Woman backs Aussie solder pay claims

CANBERRA, Australia, Feb. 26 (UPI) -- The wife of an Australian soldier has backed claims that another soldier was docked an entire paycheck due to a dispute about overpayment.

The woman said that despite claims by Defense Minister Joel Fitzgibbon and army officials, the soldier received a Jan. 22 pay packet for the amount of $0.00 as a result of disputed claims that he and about 380 other soldiers had previously been mistakenly overpaid, The Australian reported Thursday.

The woman spoke after defense officials and Fitzgibbon disputed opposition officials by claiming the man had received compensation Jan. 22. The defense minister said he believed he had found a pay packet that indicated the man was paid $2,749 on the date, which was then deposited into two different bank accounts.

"Either the opposition are very dumb and cannot read the pay slip properly or they are misrepresenting the facts," Fitzgibbon said.

However, the woman said the solider himself claims he did not receive any money.

"I heard from his mouth. I heard him state that he received $0," she said.