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A Fijian national working as a chef in New Zealand has been sentenced to 21 months’ imprisonment for immigration fraud.
Bimal Roy Prasad was sentenced at Manukau District Court on December 22, 2016 on five charges under the Immigration Acts 1987 and 2009 relating to providing false and misleading information on visa applications to an immigration officer and producing a visitor visa knowing it to have been obtained fraudulently.
Immigration New Zealand (INZ) Assistant General Manager Peter Devoy said that Prasad has been in New Zealand on various visas since June 2010.
“In each visa application, he had declared that he had no character issues or been deported from any country. However, INZ received information in February 2016 that Prasad had been deported from the United States to Fiji using a different identity,” Mr Devoy said.
He said that INZ received confirmation from the American authorities in March that the defendant’s fingerprints matched those for an individual by the name of Bimal Autar, who was deported from the US for aggravated felony in 2006.
“Prasad admitted the charges when the information was put to him and said he did it to hide his criminal history from us. We will not tolerate anyone committing immigration fraud,” Mr Devoy said.
From Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment
