Nurul Noor Azman, an interpreter, has been sentenced to 11 months home detention.
RNZ reports that Azman, an interpreter at an Auckland law firm, was found guilty of supplying false information in five cases involving horticultural workers.
She charged them about $800 each to create the fake applications.
Jason Perry, the immigration investigations national manager, described it as “cynical and devious behaviour.” He said it was a planned attempt to manipulate the immigration system and earn some extra money for herself.
The crime was discovered in 2020 after an immigration operation at kiwifruit orchards in the Bay of Plenty. A group made the fake asylum claims of about 150 Indonesians and Malaysian migrants. 158 claims similarities in asylum claims were found by investigators of migrant workers being encouraged to falsely claim refugee status to obtain work visas while their claims were being processed.
Most of them claimed they were in danger from loan sharks or gangsters, and some used identical wording to outline their claims. They all lived in the same city, had the same legal representative, and some lived at the same address.
After her trial at Auckland District Court in 2022, Immigration New Zealand said Azman manipulated migrants and the system when she helped five people make up stories about persecution, threats and violence.
