Marlanna Shirley Diana Harris appeared in the Auckland District Court on 13 June on three representative charges of dishonestly and without claim of right using a document with intent to obtain a pecuniary advantage.
The charges related to fraudulently obtaining (and attempting to obtain) income tax refunds, student loan payments and Working for Families payments.
The sentencing Judge referred to the aggravating factors in the case – the premeditation, offending while on sentence for other charges, the personal benefit she obtained, and what His Honour called the “huge loss” of revenue affecting all taxpayers.
Between May 2019 and January 2022, Harris and a co-accused Richard Jody Rapana together tried to obtain more than $400,000 that they were not entitled to. They received just over $115,000.
Inland Revenue began investigating in 2019 before placing the investigation on hold while supporting the Government’s response to Covid-19.
Harris pleaded guilty to the three representative charges.
Note: Rapana plead guilty to three representative charges. On 12 September 2025, he was sentenced to a further 9 months imprisonment, on top of the 4 year sentence of imprisonment he was already serving for a burglary, COVID wage subsidy fraud, and Facebook Marketplace fraud committed over a similar period.