A Samoan national has been sentenced to four years imprisonment after pleading guilty to 12 representative charges relating to a migrant exploitation scheme.
The individual, who has interim name suppression, pleaded guilty at the Auckland District Court today to five representative charges of aiding and abetting breach of visa conditions, six charges of exploitation of unlawful migrants and one representative charge of corruption of a public official.
They have also been ordered to pay $4000 to the victims.
Acting general manager Immigration Compliance & Investigation, Michael Carley, said the individual would frequently travel to Samoa to recruit people to their painting business.
"Workers were lured to New Zealand under the offer to make money that they can send to their families in Samoa," he said.
"The individual would then either directly or indirectly through extended family or friends, sponsor a worker's visitor visa and manage the process of applying for visas through Immigration New Zealand. Even paying for related visa fees and airfares".
Between 2014 and 2021, the individual, with the support of an associate, employed Samoan nationals unlawfully in New Zealand and supported others to breach their visa conditions.
The individual knew the workers were not lawfully entitled to work in New Zealand and some employees would also remain unlawfully in New Zealand at the expiry of their visitor visa.
The individual paid their associate to accommodate many of their workers and assisted with applying for the visitor visas of at least two people by sponsoring some of them at the individual's direction.
The associate knew these visas did not allow the recipient to work in New Zealand and knew that the purpose of their entry was to work for the individual illegally.
This associate has also been charged is still awaiting sentencing.
The sentenced Samoan national also took advantage of a contact at Immigration New Zealand's office in Samoa, bribing them for favourable treatment when applying for visas for these employees.
These illegal workers were often employed for more than 40 hours a week and paid a daily rate of $100, which is below than the adult minimum wage.
These employees were not paid their workers holiday or sick pay entitlements and failed to provide them with payslips or an individual employment agreement.
"The callous exploitation of vulnerable migrants and the corruption of public officials, is not just unethical - it's criminal and we will work with our partner agencies both onshore and offshore to take all necessary action to hold those responsible to account," Carley said.
"Maintaining and protecting the integrity of our immigration system is critical to protecting both migrants and the wider public. Therefore, we expect applicants to be honest about their intentions when entering New Zealand and follow the conditions of their visa".
"I'm also incredibly proud of our investigations team who undertook a lengthy and complex investigation, working closely across MBIE and INZ Integrity teams, to bring these serious charges before the court".
