Secret signs from Putin put overstayer on edge

Express for $20,000 but said he then feared the Ukrainian authorities would deport him to Russia because of that case, so he fled to New Zealand in 2005.

He entered New Zealand on a one-month visa to investigate business opportunities and continued staying after the visa lapsed. He made a life for himself here but told the tribunal he avoided public healthcare, emails and other electronic forms of communication out of fear that Russian agents would find him.

But the game was up when police, investigating an unrelated accident in his neighbourhood in June 2016, knocked on his door and discovered he was an overstayer. He was served a deportation notice and that is when he claims he once more appeared on the Russian intelligence services’ radar. He told the tribunal Russian agents tracked him to his house and began a campaign of intimidation.

Cigarette butts were left on his doorstep three times in 2017 as was a plastic star.

According to his testimony ‘‘cigarette butt’’ was an old nickname for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Then he found a condom on his back doorstep, another sign he attributed to Russian involvement, the tribunal ruling said.

‘‘When you call someone a condom in Russia, it is a huge sign of disrespect.’’

The most serious incident was alleged to have happened in May 2017 when his house was broken into but nothing was stolen.

A window which the man had gone to great lengths to secure, including taping it from the inside and putting boxes against it, had been left open.

His computer had also stopped working and a printer cartridge was missing, he told the tribunal.

The tribunal granted the man asylum, saying it did so because of a combination of psychological and legal factors.

Moor said his time in New Zealand left a large gap in his records which, when combined with his paranoia and Ukrainian origins, could appear suspicious to Russian authorities.