Jail time reduced for woman who fradulently claimed $164,000 Rita Mercuri after appearing at Heidelberg Court. Picture: Derrick Den Hollander Source: Herald Sun A MELBOURNE mother who rorted $164,000 by fraudulently claiming she required around-the-clock care has had her jail time effectively halved in the County Court today. Rita Mercuri - whose left leg was amputated below the knee after a workplace accident - was sentenced in January to serve half of her partially suspended 16-month sentence. Today, on appeal, Judge Lisa Hannan ordered that Mercuri, 44, serve only four months of her sentence for her "appalling" and "morally reprehensible" crimes. She must also repay $112,187 to WorkSafe. Mercuri had received weekly compensation payments since the 1985 accident, but began claiming 24-hour assistance from carers in 2008, after telling doctors she was wheelchair-bound and needed around-the-clock care, being unable to even shower or go to the toilet independently. Video surveillance revealed she was able to walk and drive. Judge Hannan said Mercuri lied to doctors and authorities about her capabilities, claiming she required 24-hour care, and then ran around at her son's basketball game. "This is calculating - in effect thumbing your nose at those in need while engaging in such an elaborate fraud," the judge said. Public resources are not infinite - they are finite and must be carefully guarded for those truly in need. Mercuri pleaded guilty in January to eight charges, including fraudulently obtaining compensation payments, providing false information to doctors and providing false invoices for services never provided by six carers from 2008 to 2011. A court previously heard she approached several women, including two of her nieces, and asked them to get work at KinCare Community Services. Mercuri then forged time sheets, falsely claiming the women had cared for her and, in return, some of them would give her half their pay. Defence counsel Grace Morgan said a term of imprisonment would be harsher on Mercuri because removing her from her treatment team would have a deleterious effect on her health. Ms Morgan said Mercuri was mentally unstable and may require further surgery. Mercuri cried and hugged her sons and other family members before she was wheeled from the courtroom into custody.