A 54-year-old man has been jailed for a "sophisticated scheme" providing false or misleading information to Immigration New Zealand to support the visa applications of 24 foreign workers.
Vincent Ding Peng Hii was sentenced at the Auckland District Court to two years and two months in prison after pleading guilty to 24 charges of supplying false or misleading information under the Immigration Act.
Between 2015 and 2021, Hii created fake job offers and business records, set up companies and rented office spaces, and operated wage recycling arrangements to make it appear foreign workers were genuinely employed in skilled roles, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) said.
Using his companies, primarily the Salesforce Contracting Services NZ Limited, Hii created the fake job offers to meet the immigration requirements for work and residence visas, it added.
Salesforce Contracting Services had since gone into liquidation.
MBIE national manager of investigations Jason Perry said Hii went to "great lengths to create the illusion of legitimate employment" – including renting offices in Auckland, Hamilton and Christchurch for applicants to attend in case of verification visits by immigration officers.
In some cases, MBIE said, applicants were made to fund their own salaries and tax payments. Workers were also instructed to transfer money into a range of different personal accounts of Hii and his associates, which would then be transferred into a business bank account disguised as different types of income such as "training fees".
Documents with false employment details – including job titles, salaries, and places of work – were sent by the 24 applicants who received job offers under the scheme to Immigration New Zealand.
Immigration New Zealand said it was continuing to assess the immigration status of those affected by the scheme.
"This was a deliberate and calculated attempt to undermine the integrity of New Zealand’s immigration system," Perry said.
"This case should serve as a warning to anyone considering similar offending. INZ will continue to investigate and prosecute those who seek to take advantage of our immigration processes."
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