A Melbourne childcare worker who ripped off taxpayers to the tune of $88,051 while earning more than $80,000 a year has been jailed for just three months.

Ikraam Mohamud, 31, of Reservoir – north of Melbourne – claimed she was only looking after her family when she blew up to $2,000 a day while scamming the child welfare system.

According to Herald Sun, the single mother-of-two admitted taking cash from Centrelink while working at multiple childcare centers, without declaring her income to the federal government agency.

She made regular withdrawals of up to $2000 a day but the County Court was given no information about how the cash was spent, The Age reported.

“There’s no evidence you spent the money wrongly received by you, to live some lavish lifestyle,” Judge Richard Smith said on Wednesday.

“The withdrawals are unexplained.”

The 31-year-old was receiving single parent payments but between 2012 and 2017 lied about her income, according to reports.

While working she was entitled to receive about $3300 in benefits in total.

Ikraam Mohamud arrives at the County Court in Melbourne for sentencing. Picture: Matrix Media Group

Before sentencing, County Court of Victoria Judge Richard Smith asked Mohamud why she was wearing a head scarf in the prison dock.

‘Is that a religious requirement?’ he asked.

Mohamud had arrived at court surrounded by supporters who shielded her from a waiting media pack.

The fraudster hid her face with a niqab and wore dark sunglasses on entering the court, but revealed her face upon facing sentence.

Ikraam Mohamud was shielded by supporters as she entered the County Court of Victoria on Wednesday

Mohamud’s barrister advised Judge Smith his client was a Muslim.

Upon sentencing, Judge Smith said he still had no idea what Mohamud had blown the cash on.

He criticised Mohamud for her behaviour and said she knew what she was doing was wrong.

‘Your offending was deliberate,’ he said.

‘And it went on for four years.’

Crown prosecutor Kathryn Thornton had earlier described Mohamad’s case as ‘one of greed’, not of need.

Ikraam Mohamud makes a phone call outside the County Court of Victoria at an earlier hearing. She had just days to organise her life before she was sent to jail

Judge Smith agreed, declaring that nothing short of an immediate prison term would be appropriate.

But he accepted Mohamud had pleaded guilty to the crime early, had co-operated with police and displayed remorse by entering a payment plan to repay her huge debt.

That plan will see Mohamud pay $15 a fortnight until the debt is repaid.

‘That will take many, many years to repay,’ Judge Smith acknowledged.

Until now, Mohamud hasn’t repaid a cent.

At a pre-sentence hearing, her barrister Gregory Buchhorn said his client – who is pregnant again – was ‘deeply ashamed’ of her behaviour and that her large family were unaware of what she had been up to.

Mohamud showed no emotion as she was taken away to jail.