A former SA Health director has denied faking death threats so she could claim multiple taxpayer-funded benefits and compensation. Tabitha Lean, 40, and her husband Simon Craig Peisley, 37, are on trial in the District Court on 47 deception charges and one count of attempted deception. The court heard the husband and wife were both employed in the Aboriginal Health Service division of SA Health and Lean was the director. The prosecution alleged the couple orchestrated a “clever, sophisticated and well-executed” scam that involved fake racist threats related to their employment at SA Health. The jury heard the government department paid to relocate the couple and their three children at serviced apartments in North Adelaide, covered their medical bills and paid for interstate holidays. It heard the couple continued to receive their wages despite them deemed unable to work due to stress and a compensation payout was being negotiated. The court previously heard invisible ink was put on envelopes and paper in the couple’s apartment through a covert police operation and it later appeared on one of their threatening letters. It also heard about other physical and forensic evidence, such as fingerprints and handwriting analysis. Lean took the stand in her defence and denied she was behind the threats. She said it was a stressful and difficult period of her life.
