A man of many parts including Jordan Willem De Klerk, Richard James Bennett, and James William Gallagher, and Jordan David Bell, but it was believed his birth name was Jordan David Kay.

A visitor to New Zealand started committing benefit fraud – that netted him $176,000 – about a week after he arrived in the country, a judge has been told.

Jordan de Klerk was the name he appeared in court under, and used working as a real estate agent, but it seemed his birth name was Jordan David Kay.

By the time de Klerk, 36, was caught after five years in New Zealand he had fleeced the taxpayer of $176,461.73.

KEVIN STENT/STUFF De Klerk was not a New Zealand citizen and not entitled to receive any benefits. (File photo)

"This is plain simple theft from the community by creating fictitious beneficiaries," Judge Bruce Davidson said sentencing de Klerk to two years and three months' jail.

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Ministry of Social Development prosecutor Christopher Hunt said de Klerk was in the country for about a week before the fraud started.

There was evidence of planning because he could not have created the identities he did on the spot, Hunt said.

Although de Klerk was said to have no previous convictions in New Zealand he was believed to have come to the attention of authorities overseas, although no other convictions were confirmed, Hunt said.

De Klerk pleaded guilty to 28 charges of using documents with intent to defraud. As well as the jail term, he was sentenced to repay $20,000 from the sale proceeds of a Mercedes and a Holden, the judge said.

The frauds were supported by fictitious documents so it was a crossover between benefit fraud and identity fraud, he said.

Defence lawyer Julia Spiers said de Klerk fled the United Kingdom to avoid various kinds of abuse. He would be deported when he was released from prison.

He moved around and used aliases, but accepted he went too far. He hoped to work in property in the future, Spiers said.

De Klerk first applied for a sickness benefit in June 2013 under the name Jordan David Bell, at the same time declaring that that he had changed his name to Bell after using the name James Jordan, and having a birth name of Jordan David Kay.

More than three years later he told the ministry he was changing the Bell name to Jordan Willem De Klerk.

About two weeks later, in December 2016, he was back again applying for a job seeker benefit in the name Richard James Bennett.

In October 2017 he obtained another jobseeker benefit in the name James William Gallagher.

De Klerk told MSD that he lived in various parts of the North Island, Bennett lived in Wellington's Aro Valley and Gallagher lived in central Christchurch.

He continued receiving benefits in the name of De Klerk/Bell, Bennett, and Gallagher until they were suspended in July 2018 due to the investigation that led to him being charged.

When the tangle had been sorted out it was established he was not a citizen of New Zealand through ancestry and therefore not entitled to receive benefits under the Social Security Act 194, the summary of facts said.

The court was told that by using false addresses he escaped detection when going for face-to-face meetings at MSD.

It is understood de Klerk had worked as a real estate agent in Whanganui but stopped about 18 months ago.