Workers duped in immigration scam
Starving Fijian immigrant workers duped into coming to New Zealand to work on farms foraged maize from a paddock to feed themselves.
Otorohanga man Mike Neil Molan, 40, has pleaded guilty to one charge of forgery and one charge of misleading an immigration officer after a sting at his company's offices and related Auckland-based immigration consultants.
The scheme saw Fijian immigrants pay thousands of dollars for bogus work visas to work on dairy farms. A former employee says she was aware of at least 17 workers caught up in the scam.
Workers were taken on by Molan to complete 12-week training programmes on various Waikato farms with two companies Molan was a director of – Til Da Cows Come Home and Cow Tech. At the end of the programme, they were told they would enter fulltime employment on dairy farms and gain work visas.
However the visa applications were forged and the jobs never existed.
Farmers used by Molan say they were appalled at the situation he left his workers in, unpaid and unfed.
Stacey Watson, of Piopio, who employed workers from Til Da Cows Come Home, found her farm workers foraging for maize after Molan abandoned them.
"We were noticing that the guys didn't have anything to eat and they didn't have any supplies and they were foraging for maize to eat."
Mrs Watson said she paid Til Da Cows Come Home $800 for finding her workers.
Waikato Times investigations have shown immigrants were paying recruitment companies associated with Molan up to $12,000 to obtain work visas.
Mrs Watson said she was told the workers were being paid a wage which went into a trust account, paid once their training was finished and their work visas approved.
"It was atrocious. He had quite a few Fijian Indians that were coming from Fiji to find a new life and make money for their families and he was exploiting them. We were paying what we thought was a completely legitimate business," she said.
Manju Pillay was employed as accounts and administration manager at Cow Tech for three months. She paid $6000 of Molan's $12,736 bill for residency and a work permit before questioning its legitimacy and returning to Fiji. She says she was never paid herself but would sometimes go shopping to get food for the workers.
"If the boys weren't paid he would tell them to come home and open the freezer and take some bread and most of the time the bread would be stale.
"Sometimes I did go shopping for them, we used to have to buy our own toilet paper and things."
Molan worked with Auckland based IMAC Recruitment and Romy's Immigration, which has since been struck off the companies' register. Molan's ex-wife Nikkie, who was a director of the now defunct Cow Tech, said she got wind of the scam in about November 2008 and confronted Molan.
"Workers were paying up to $17,000 for work visas and it had been going on since June or July 2008.
"It was just a way of getting cash out of people."
Mrs Pillay said Molan had 17 employees when she was there. She said Cow Tech went into liquidation three months after she started working for it and she contacted the Immigration Department.
Molan will be sentenced in the High Court at Hamilton on March 4.
- Waikato Times
Starving Fijian immigrant workers duped into coming to New Zealand to work on farms foraged maize from a paddock to feed themselves.
Otorohanga man Mike Neil Molan, 40, has pleaded guilty to one charge of forgery and one charge of misleading an immigration officer after a sting at his company's...
Starving Fijian immigrant workers duped into coming to New Zealand to work on farms foraged maize from a paddock to feed themselves.
Otorohanga man Mike Neil Molan, 40, has pleaded guilty to one charge of forgery and one charge of misleading an immigration officer after a sting at his company's offices and related Auckland-based immigration consultants.
The scheme saw Fijian immigrants pay thousands of dollars for bogus work visas to work on dairy farms. A former employee says she was aware of at least 17 workers caught up in the scam.
Workers were taken on by Molan to complete 12-week training programmes on various Waikato farms with two companies Molan was a director of – Til Da Cows Come Home and Cow Tech. At the end of the programme, they were told they would enter fulltime employment on dairy farms and gain work visas.
However the visa applications were forged and the jobs never existed.
Farmers used by Molan say they were appalled at the situation he left his workers in, unpaid and unfed.
Stacey Watson, of Piopio, who employed workers from Til Da Cows Come Home, found her farm workers foraging for maize after Molan abandoned them.
"We were noticing that the guys didn't have anything to eat and they didn't have any supplies and they were foraging for maize to eat."
Mrs Watson said she paid Til Da Cows Come Home $800 for finding her workers.
Waikato Times investigations have shown immigrants were paying recruitment companies associated with Molan up to $12,000 to obtain work visas.
Mrs Watson said she was told the workers were being paid a wage which went into a trust account, paid once their training was finished and their work visas approved.
"It was atrocious. He had quite a few Fijian Indians that were coming from Fiji to find a new life and make money for their families and he was exploiting them. We were paying what we thought was a completely legitimate business," she said.
Manju Pillay was employed as accounts and administration manager at Cow Tech for three months. She paid $6000 of Molan's $12,736 bill for residency and a work permit before questioning its legitimacy and returning to Fiji. She says she was never paid herself but would sometimes go shopping to get food for the workers.
"If the boys weren't paid he would tell them to come home and open the freezer and take some bread and most of the time the bread would be stale.
"Sometimes I did go shopping for them, we used to have to buy our own toilet paper and things."
Molan worked with Auckland based IMAC Recruitment and Romy's Immigration, which has since been struck off the companies' register. Molan's ex-wife Nikkie, who was a director of the now defunct Cow Tech, said she got wind of the scam in about November 2008 and confronted Molan.
"Workers were paying up to $17,000 for work visas and it had been going on since June or July 2008.
"It was just a way of getting cash out of people."
Mrs Pillay said Molan had 17 employees when she was there. She said Cow Tech went into liquidation three months after she started working for it and she contacted the Immigration Department.
Molan will be sentenced in the High Court at Hamilton on March 4.
- Waikato Times
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