Financial pressures brought on by raising a young daughter by herself was the catalyst for a Thurgoona woman making the decision to defraud Medicare, a court has heard.
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Amanda Bardy, defence lawyer Mark Cronin said, "will be repaying the Commonwealth in the order of $4300 for some period of time".
The 38-year-old has pleaded guilty in Albury Local Court to a single charge of obtain a financial advantage by deception.
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The matter involved her lodging a false claim using the Express Medicare Plus mobile phone app related to the purported provision of anaesthetist services by ACT-based specialist Dr Danny-Glen Raiz.
Mr Cronin said Bardy was remorseful
"She has a genuine understanding that what she did was serious," he said.
But Mr Cronin said it was brought about by the financial difficulties of trying to support herself and her child.
She had a strong desire to move ahead with her life, he said, which was demonstrated by her undertaking online university studies in criminology.
Magistrate Imad Abdul-Karim said these type of offences were "very easy to commit" and "difficult to detect".
He said he was willing to take into account Bardy's hardship, though this did not justify her offending.
The court was told that Bardy submitted a claim for $5900 in services from Dr Raiz, using an invoice that was far different to what he used in his practice, and obtained a refund of $4336.10.
Bardy was placed on a $500 Commonwealth 12-month good behaviour bond and ordered to pay back the refund.