Sāmoan sentenced for migrant exploitation and corruption

A Sāmoan national, who has name suppression, was jailed for four years and ordered to pay $4000 to the victims of their actions.

The person admitted to several serious crimes in the Auckland District Court, including helping others break visa rules, taking advantage of undocumented workers, and bribing a government official.

Another person connected to them has also been charged and is awaiting sentencing.

These illegal activities took place between 2014 and 2021. During this time, the individual, along with their associate, hired Sāmoan workers in New Zealand without following the law and assisted others in violating the terms of their visas.

They even exploited a contact at the Immigration New Zealand office in Sāmoa, paying them to issue visas on their behalf and to get special treatment for their workers’ visa applications.

Michael Carley, the Acting General Manager of Immigration Compliance and Investigation, explained in a statement that the individual travelled regularly to Sāmoa to recruit workers for their painting business.

“Workers were promised the chance to earn money that they could send back to their families in Sāmoa,” he says.

Once the workers arrived in New Zealand, the individual would sponsor their visitor visas, manage the application process, and cover expenses such as visa fees and flights.

During trips to Sāmoa, the individual instructed workers to hide cash in documents to try to influence how officials treated them at the Immigration office.

Auckland court. Photo/RNZ/Simon Rogers

The individual was aware that many of these workers were not allowed to work or were in New Zealand illegally after their visitor visas had expired.

The workers often worked over 40 hours a week but were only paid $100 a day, which is less than the legal minimum wage. They also did not receive any holiday or sick pay and weren’t given payslips or formal employment agreements.

The individual even paid the associate for providing housing for some workers and helped them with their visa applications, directing the associate on how to sponsor them.

The associate knew that the visas wouldn’t allow the workers to have jobs in New Zealand and that they were entering the country to work illegally.

The sentencing followed a five-year investigation that started in 2020 after a tip-off through Crimestoppers alerted authorities to illegal activities.

Carley says the sentencing sends a strong message: immigration fraud, exploitation of migrant workers, and corruption will not be tolerated.

“The exploitation of vulnerable workers and the corruption of officials is not just wrong - it's a crime. We are committed to working with other agencies to ensure accountability,” he says.

“Maintaining the integrity of our immigration system is vital for protecting migrants and the general public. We expect everyone to be honest about their intentions when entering New Zealand and to follow the rules of their visas.”

Former New Zealand Immigration Minister Andrew Little speaks to a group of migrant workers stranded without jobs at a meeting in Auckland, August 2023. Photo/Facebook/Labour MP Phil Twyford

In August 2023, a New Zealand criminal investigation and government inquiry were forced after dozens of migrant workers were discovered crowded inside a squalid three-bedroom home in south Auckland.

The workers were reportedly paid thousands of dollars for employment agreements with local recruitment contractors, but since arriving three months earlier, they had received no work or pay. The men called the police after their food ran out, and they had to resort to begging.

“Forty men were crammed into the filthy, overcrowded three-bedroom home in Auckland for months on end, sharing a single shower and cooking over one stove,” the report stated.

Workers in the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) Scheme, introduced by the then Labour government in 2007, which brings Pacific Islanders in on temporary visas to work in the horticulture industry, were subjected to conditions akin to “modern slavery,” according to a Human Rights Commission report released in December 2022.

Photo/Stuff/Abigail Dougherty

The report cited numerous instances of basic human rights breaches, including workers’ dire accommodation and authoritarian employer supervision. 

Carley praised the investigative team who worked with the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) and the Immigration New Zealand (INZ) Integrity teams to gather evidence and bring these serious charges to court.

He says that the MBIE takes the conduct and honesty of its staff very seriously and will investigate any wrongdoing.

“We encourage anyone who knows about immigration fraud or exploitation to speak up. To report an issue, call the MBIE reporting line. If you want to report an issue anonymously, contact Crimestoppers.”

This story has been updated to state that the individual sentenced has been granted name suppression.