Immigration adviser ordered to compensate clients
WELLINGTON: The lawyer for 20 Filipino workers financially compensated for immigration advice they paid for but did not receive said the adviser who failed them took a ‘‘cynical approach’’ to his business.
The High Court ordered Lindsay Sparks to pay $1000 to each of the men as a partial refund of fees they paid. He was also required to pay $12,000 to the Immigration Advisers’ Registrar and suspended from holding a licence to practise as an immigration adviser for two years.
Ruth Burgess represented the men and said Sparks took money to provide a service that a third party then undertook.
‘‘That’s a pretty cynical approach, especially when the people you are meant to be representing don’t have very much in the first place.’’
At least one of the complainants was $10,000 out of pocket — $5000 paid to Mr Sparks and $5000 to a Philippinesbased agency.
Complaints against Sparks were first heard in 2016 by the Immigration Advisers’ Complaints and Disciplinary Tribunal.
It ruled Sparks knew the registrar considered his business model breached the Act and 2010 Code.
‘‘A licensed immigration adviser does not deliver professional services as a mere functionary by rubberstamping documents supplied by others,’’ the tribunal wrote in its decision.’’
The tribunal later decided Sparks allowed Filipino agents working on his behalf to do work he should have done.
‘‘He did not personally establish a professional relationship with the complainants or provide the professional services required,’’ the tribunal said.
The High Court largely rejected a judicial review of the case last year.
At the latest hearing, Sparks admitted breaching the Code of Conduct but he denied breaching the Immigration Advisers Licensing Act, saying his approach was deliberate but he was mistaken as to what was required.
He said no unlicensed people, to his knowledge, provided unlawful immigration advice to any of the complainants and said he was not responsible for any fees charged. The tribunal heard another complaint against him in 2013, censuring and ordering him to pay a penalty for similar conduct in the Philippines.