A migrant involved in the lodging of fake refugee claims has been convicted on immigration fraud charges at the Auckland District Court.

30-year-old Nurul Syahirah Binti Noor Azman was found guilty on five charges of supplying false or misleading information under section 342(1)(b) of the Immigration Act 2009.

Her offending occurred in 2020 and saw her involved in the lodging of false refugee claims with Immigration New Zealand (INZ).

Acting General Manager Verification and Compliance, Karen Bishop, says the offending was detected following an operation in the Bay of Plenty in 2020 when INZ was looking into allegations migrant workers in the horticulture industry were being exploited.

“As a result of that work, we discovered migrant workers were being encouraged to falsely claim refugee status to obtain work visas and other privileges.”

Ms Bishop says Azman charged workers up to $600 each to facilitate these fake claims. She describes Azman’s offending as cynical, manipulative and damaging to genuine refugees.

“Receiving these claims took up valuable time and effort for our Refugee and Protection staff. It was time and effort that genuine applicants with real needs missed out on.”

Azman is due to be sentenced at the Waitakere District Court on 15th February 2023.

INZ encourages anyone who knows of similar offending to report it immediately.

Cases can be reported to MBIE’s contact centre on 0800 20 90 20. Alternatively, they can be reported to police or anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or via the online Crimestoppers form.

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