Suspected ‘slave’ boss faces charges
Combined slavery and human trafficking charges have been laid for the first time as Immigration NZ cracks down on what it alleges 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 penalty of 20 years and the latter one of 14 years.
The accused man is Viliamu Samu, also known as Joseph Matamata. The charges follow a two-year investigation by a police and Immigration NZ team.
Samu appeared in the Hastings District Court yesterday after he was arrested at his Hawke’s Bay home early yesterday morning.
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 Detective Inspector Mike Foster as ‘‘vulnerable’’, who often had limited education and poor language skills.
They had 10 alleged victims willing to testify about how they were treated.
Immigration NZ says 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 first conviction for human trafficking came two years ago, when 46-year-old Fijian Faroz Ali was sentenced to nine years, six months jail for exploiting migrant Fijian fruitpickers.
A human trafficking charge requires authorisation from the attorney-general before it can be laid. It is only the fourth time those charges have been laid by Immigration NZ but the first time they have 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.
‘‘These are difficult investigations, they require inquiries 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.’’
Sources 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 pay workers in cash, and below minimum wage.
Union official Mandeep Bela told us that when he first came to New Zealand nine years ago, his entire kiwifruit picking gang were working illegally for $9 an hour, cash.