22 DECEMBER 2016

Man jailed over immigration fraud

A Fijian national working as a chef in New Zealand has been sentenced to 21 months’ imprisonment for immigration fraud.

Bimal Roy Prasad was sentenced at Manukau District Court on five charges under the Immigration Acts 1987 and 2009 relating to providing false and misleading information on visa applications to an immigration officer and producing a visitor visa knowing it to have been obtained fraudulently.

Immigration New Zealand (INZ) Assistant General Manager Peter Devoy says Prasad has been in New Zealand on various visas since June 2010 and in each visa application declared he had no character issues or been deported from any country. However, INZ received information in February this year that Prasad had been deported from the United States to Fiji using a different identity.

Mr Devoy says INZ received confirmation from the American authorities in March that the defendant’s fingerprints matched those for an individual by the name of Bimal Autar, who was deported from the United States for aggravated felony in 2006.

“Prasad admitted the charges when the information was put to him and said he did it to hide his criminal history from us,” Mr Devoy says. “We will not tolerate anyone committing immigration fraud and today’s sentence is a strong deterrent.”

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