Suspected 'slave' boss arrested over alleged immigration scam

Monday, 17 December 2018

Combined slavery and human trafficking charges have been laid for the first time ever as Immigration New Zealand cracks down on what they allege is a major scam involving Samoan migrants.

Immigration NZ's chief investigator, former policeman Peter Devoy, has called the Hawke's Bay case 'a new low'.

A 64-year-old Samoan, who holds New Zealand residency, has been charged with both human trafficking and slavery. The first offence carries a maximum tariff of 20 years and the latter one of 14 years.

He can now be named as Viliamu Samu, also known as Joseph Matamata, after interim name suppression lapsed at 5pm on Monday.

The charges are the result of a two-year joint investigation by a 15-strong combined police and Immigration team. 

The man was due to appear in the Hastings District Court on Monday and is expected to seek name suppression. He was arrested at his Hawkes Bay home early this morning.

Detective Inspector Mike Foster, the police lead on the team, said it was 'fair to say it was a surprise' to him.

Devoy said the man had allegedly imported migrant workers from Samoa since 1994 to work in stonefruit picking gangs.

Devoy said the man was of 'some standing' back in Samoa, but would not say if he held a matai title. His alleged victims were described by Foster as 'vulnerable', who said they were often of limited education and poor language skills. 

They had ten alleged victims willing to testify about how they were treated. Immigration say the workers claim the man confiscated passports, underpaid them, subjected them to assaults and threats. They also say their movements were heavily controlled.

'When we talk generally about exploitation, that usually means elements of control … those controls put in place might mean keeping people isolated, removing passports, it might be physical violence or threats of physical violence, that they will get them deported - there are always elements of control to subjugate a person and to exploit them,' said Devoy.

The charges are significant because Immigration hasn't usually used criminal charges to pursue immigration fraudsters in the past.

The first conviction for human trafficking came two years ago, when 46-year-old Fijian Faroz Ali was sentenced to nine years, six months for exploiting migrant Fijian fruitpickers. The sentencing judge, Justice Heath, called Ali's behaviour 'abhorrent' and a 'crime against human dignity'.

A human trafficking charge requires authorisation from the Attorney General before it can be laid.

It's only the fourth time those charges have been laid by Immigration, but the first time they've combined that with slavery charges.

'It signifies that this is the high end of exploitation offending - and this takes New Zealand to a new low, in some regards,' said Devoy. 'These are high-end offences on the statute books.

'Human trafficking is not an area where we are going to let something go: we are going to pursue it. While some people see it as a soft crime, it is not treated like that by the courts.

'These are difficult investigations, they require enquiries offshore and work with vulnerable people and often with language difficulties so they are time consuming and there is a lot of hard work gone into getting this result.'

Foster said it was the first time police had teamed up with Immigration to form one combined unit. 'From our perspective and Immigration NZ's perspective, it is a big deal.'

Devoy said it was too early to say whether the man would be deported.

Sources have told Stuff during the recent Big Scam investigation series into immigration fraud that the horticulture sector is rife with such scams, particularly among sub-contractors who undercut law-abiding rivals by paying workers in cash, and below minimum wage.

Union official Mandeep Bela told us when he first came to New Zealand nine years ago, his entire kiwifruit picking gang were working illegally for $9 an hour, cash.