Ilze Stephens fined for helping facilitate son Travis Stephens' fraud

Ilze Stephens, 71, was convicted and fined $2000 on Wednesday by the ACT Supreme Court, which also ordered her to be of good behaviour for 12 months.

The Victorian woman had previously pleaded guilty to four counts of knowingly making a false or misleading statement in an application.

Agreed facts show the offender's son, Travis David Morgan Stephens, served with the Australian Army in Canberra between 2010 and 2019.

In 2011, he began rorting a rental allowance scheme available to members of the Australian Defence Force.

He did so by claiming he paid regular rent to his mother, who owned the Kingston apartment in which he lived.

In reality, he and his mother jointly owned the property and he did not pay rent.

Ilze Stephens enabled her son's deception by making false declarations on the initial application and seven annual rental allowance review forms.

By the time the Department of Defence put an end to the fraud in 2018, Travis Stephens had dishonestly received $91,705.54 in rental allowance payments.

Justice David Mossop sentenced him late last year to 16 months in jail, with an order that he serve four months behind bars before the rest of the prison term was suspended.

On Wednesday, defence barrister Jason Moffett asked Justice Mossop to deal with Ilze Stephens by imposing convictions and a bond.

Mr Moffett said the offending was "exceptionally out of character" for his client, a grandmother and nurse who had no previous criminal history.

"She's been an impressive member of her community for her entire life, up until when this occurred," he said.

Prosecutor Marcus Hassall described Ilze Stephens as "a necessary part of the offending by her son", with the latter receiving just about all of the financial benefit.

In sentencing, Justice Mossop said the 71-year-old's crimes were "relatively unsophisticated".

However, he noted they had enabled her son to dishonestly obtain a significant benefit.

"[She] clearly played a subordinate role," the judge said of Ilze Stephens, who held "the highest level of respect" in the hospital where she worked.

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Justice Mossop said the woman had "too willingly gone along with her son's plans", but it was "easy to see" how a parent might fall into this trap.

"She failed to recognise the significance and gravity of the documentation she was signing," Justice Mossop said.

The judge described the case as one that underlined the importance of "completing government documentation truthfully".

He ultimately imposed four recognisance release orders, which require Ilze Stephens to pay the fines and stay out of trouble for a year.

The visibly relieved offender hugged Mr Moffett after learning her fate.

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