Wellington Woman Imprisoned for COVID-19 Wage Subsidy Fraud

Sariah Wehipeihana pleaded guilty in the Wellington District Court to two representative charges of dishonestly using a document related to five successful wage subsidy applications and a further 27 unsuccessful applications. All the applications were submitted between April and June 2020.

Wehipeihana used her own name and the names of ten others. This included individuals who were unaware their identities were being used and in some cases, she used the names of deceased individuals.

The successful applications resulted in a total of $28,118.40 being paid into bank accounts controlled by Wehipeihana. The funds were used for personal expenses, including shopping and online gambling.

A reparation order of $28,118.40 has been sought however no repayments have been made to date.

A total of 56 people have been sentenced in wage subsidy cases, and another 48 people are still before the courts as part of MSD’s programme of work on wage subsidy fraud and integrity. Since the scheme started, more than $830 million* in wage subsidies has been repaid.

For more information about the Wage Subsidy Integrity and Fraud Programme please see here.

 *Figures at 7 November 2025