PHOTO: FILE
A Hamilton teacher aide, Christine Joy Scott, used a series of forged driver’s licenses to deceive property management companies, securing weeks of free accommodation and defrauding landlords of around $40,000 in unpaid rent. Her elaborate scheme also duped the Tenancy Tribunal into siding with her.
Scott, 50, from Queenwood, pleaded guilty in the Hamilton District Court to charges of using altered documents with intent to defraud and fabricating evidence.
Her fraudulent activities began in March 2021 when she applied to rent a home on Bellmont Ave in Chartwell from Harcourts Hamilton Rentals. Scott submitted a fake driver’s license as proof of identity, altering the number, her middle name, and birthdate. Harcourts, unaware of the forgery, rented the home to her at $490 per week, and Scott moved in on April 9.
One of the altered driver’s licences Christine Scott used to secure rental properties. This version omits her middle name, gives the wrong date of birth, and has an incorrect licence number.
Supplied
By July, she had accrued $1,400 in arrears, missing multiple payments. Mediation was attempted, with Scott agreeing to pay an additional $300 per week to clear the debt. However, she failed to meet the agreement and continued to miss payments, falling $2,130 behind by early August.
When Harcourts took the case to the Tenancy Tribunal, Scott lied about having made the payments and produced falsified bank statements and receipts. The tribunal dismissed Harcourts’ claim, but upon further investigation, ASB revealed that Scott’s payments had never been made.
Despite being caught, Scott repeated her scheme in July 2022, renting another property from Me & My House Property Management using a similarly altered driver’s license. She moved in without making any rent payments until October. Again, she submitted forged documents to the Tenancy Tribunal to avoid eviction.
Scott’s deception was exposed through police investigations and Kiwibank records, revealing she owed $9,214 in unpaid rent when she finally left the property in December.
In her final attempts, Scott targeted Lodge City Rentals, PC Property Management, and McQuire’s Property. However, one staff member identified the forgery, stopping one of her schemes before it succeeded.
Despite being charged and facing court, Scott continued her rent scam, leading to multiple unpaid rents across different properties in Hamilton. She will be sentenced in January.
SOURCE: WAIKATO TIMES