Auckland couple jailed for exploiting migrants

A Bengali couple who ran a sweetsmaking business in Auckland and paid their employees just $6 an hour have been jailed for their two-year exploitation of migrant workers.

Mohammed Atiqul Islam and Nafisa Ahmed were jointly charged by Immigration New Zealand with several offences, including deceptively arranging the entry of two Bengali nationals into the country.

The pair, New Zealand citizens, were also charged with human trafficking, but found not guilty at a lengthy Auckland District Court trial.

It was one of only a handful of human trafficking prosecutions in New Zealand’s legal history.

Islam, a company director in his late 30s, was found guilty on 10 charges of exploitation and seven other immigration-related offences.

Also known as Kafi Islam, he was found guilty of a further three charges of attempting to pervert the course of justice.

Ahmed, an accountant in her mid 30s, was jointly found guilty of seven exploitation charges relating to the five victims.

The offending was uncovered after two of the chefs at the Royal Sweets Cafe, also known as the Royal Bengal Cafe, made complaints to New Zealand authorities about the conditions imposed on them.

The chefs’ passports were also confiscated after they arrived in New Zealand from Bangladesh after responding to advertisements for work in Bengali newspapers.

Judge Brooke Gibson said the chefs had “suffered grievously”.

Working long hours, Islam and Ahmed’s employees were paid just $6 an hour, were not paid for all of the hours they worked or any holiday pay, the court heard.

Employees on temporary visas were also encouraged by Islam and Ahmed to breach their visa conditions by working more hours.

Crown prosecutor Jacob Parry said some of the victims suffered swollen legs and hands and one thought “we might die from overwork”.

Judge Gibson sentenced Islam to four years and five months’ imprisonment, while Ahmed was jailed for two years and six months.