Section 211 — Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986: Order for repayment of pension etc.

(1) Where: (a) a person is convicted of an offence against subsection 208(1) or (2); or (b) a person is charged before a court with an offence against subsection 208(1) or (2) but the Court, being satisfied that the charge has been proved, dismisses the charge or discharges the person without proceeding to a conviction; the court may (in the case of a person convicted of the offence, in addition to imposing a penalty in respect of that offence) order the person to repay to the Commonwealth an amount equal to the amount paid by way of pension, allowance or other pecuniary benefit under this Act in consequence of the act, failure or omission in respect of which the person was charged with the offence. (2) For the purposes of subsection (1), a certificate, under the hand of the Secretary, that an amount specified in the certificate is the amount that has been paid to a person by way of pension, allowance or other pecuniary benefit in consequence of an act, failure or omission specified in the certificate is prima facie evidence of the matters specified in the certificate. (3) Where: (a) the Court makes an order under subsection (1) for the payment to the Commonwealth of an amount of money; and (b) the clerk, or other appropriate officer, of the Court signs a certificate specifying: (i) the amount ordered to be paid to the Commonwealth; and (ii) the person by whom the amount is to be paid; and (c) the certificate is filed in a court (which may be the Court) having civil jurisdiction to the extent of the amount to be paid; the certificate is enforceable in all respects as a final judgment of the court in which the certificate is filed. (4) In spite of anything in this Act or any other law, a person is not to be imprisoned in respect of a failure to pay an amount payable to the Commonwealth under this section. (5) Where: (a) a person is convicted of an offence against subsection 208(1) or (2); and (b) the court orders him or her to pay an amount of more than $30,000 to the Commonwealth under subsection (1); and (c) the offence involved a scheme to defraud the Commonwealth; the court may, on application by the Commonwealth, order the person to pay to the Commonwealth interest on the amount mentioned in paragraph (b), at the rate of 20% per annum, in respect of the period or periods in respect of which the person was paid pension, allowance or other benefit as mentioned in subsection (1). (6) In this section: scheme to defraud the Commonwealth includes either of the following: (a) a scheme involving the making of a series of false or misleading statements; (b) a scheme involving obtaining a series of payments of pension, allowance or other benefit or instalments of pension, allowance or other benefit under this Act (being payments that were not payable) by means of impersonation or a fraudulent device.