A mother and daughter living in Wentworth Falls have been accused in court of subletting their public housing accommodation in the famed Sirius building overlooking Sydney Harbour and pocketing nearly $150,000 over five years.
It is alleged they moved out of their taxpayer subsidised home and were subletting it to make thousands in extra cash while living in the Blue Mountains, amongst other locations.
Genute Balsiene, 62, and her daughter Saule Baslyte have been charged with 52 counts of fraudulently failing to notify NSW Housing of a change in circumstances, including that they had moved out and were charging new tenants up to $700 a week to live in their subsidised harbourside home.
The alleged breaches of the Housing Act carry a maximum penalty of up to three months' jail, a fine or both.
They have pleaded not guilty.
Ms Balsiene moved into the Sirius in 2007, receiving subsidised housing. But court documents allege the pair moved out as long ago as 2012. By 2013 it's alleged they had begun subletting it to earn extra income while they lived in the Mountains, on the Central Coast and in Chatswood.
In 2012, court documents allege they "wilfully failed to notify the NSW Land and Housing Corporation of a change in circumstances with intent to obtain or claim from the corporation accommodation" at the Sirius building and intended to "deceive" the corporation concerning their accommodation with the intent to affect the rate or amount of rental rebate so as to avoid cancellation or adjustment of the rebate.
The court documents also allege they "were not occupying the property, did not require public housing and were living in ... Wentworth Falls".
It's alleged by 2013, they were charging a tenant $400 a week to live in their Sirius flat and by 2014, when they moved to the Central Coast, they were charging a new tenant $600. Then in 2015, they are alleged to have moved to Chatswood and were charging $600 for their subsidised accommodation.
The court documents allege they earned as much as $700 a week for the flat at times. Counsel for NSW Housing told a Downing Centre Local Court hearing last Wednesday the earnings totalled $147,000.
NSW Housing says it began investigating in 2015. It trawled through bank accounts and real estate records to discover where they were living. Ms Balsiene was also working as a cleaner to add to their income.
Solicitors for the pair made an application for the matter to be dismissed on psychological grounds, which the magistrate dismissed. Nathan Cureton, a solicitor from the property division of Family and Community Services, gave evidence about an application to a real estate agent for a flat in Chatswood in which they asked for names not to be included on the tenancy agreement. The matter has been adjourned until April.
The NSW government put the Sirius building up for sale in December with expectations it will fetch $100 million, having relocated residents.