Paua smugglers slipped through beneficiary net

News that Zhang Yuan Da, and his wife Zhong Hui Hong, were among five beneficiaries found guilty of smuggling $1.1 million of paua to Hong Kong will be a shock to hard working New Zealanders, says Katherine Rich National Spokesperson for Social Services.

“It is hard to believe the Department of Work and Income didn’t detect these people were beneficiaries for 11 years, with an allegedly huge bank account, on which they would have been paying resident withholding tax on interest.

“What happened to the information exchange between the Inland Revenue Department and Social Welfare, instituted precisely to prevent benefit fraud?

“The Minister must assure New Zealanders that there are proper checks in place to prevent a reoccurrence of this sorry case. The Department has failed to vet these people properly and the public needs answers as to why,” Mrs Rich said.

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