The Big Scam: Migrant 'thanks God' for opportunity to stay

Wednesday, 3 October 2018

Damanpreet Kaur has admitted to paying large sums of money to secure visas, but says those who took her cash should be held responsible.

A government minister has given a twice-scammed migrant a second chance.

Damanpreet Kaur was the victim of two groups of immigration scammers and faced deportation but has earned a reprieve from Associate Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi after Stuff investigated her case.

Kaur said she was 'always scared' of being sent home but now 'thanks God' and Stuff for the opportunity to stay in New Zealand.

In a letter Kaur received on Tuesday, Faafoi said he was making an exception by giving her a six-month open visa to stay in New Zealand with the aim of securing a longer-term visa.

Kaur's immigration advisor, Tuariki Delamere, said he'd spoken to Immigration officials who said they wanted Kaur's help to investigate the two scams revealed by Stuff.

'They are assessing [this case],' Delamere said. 'They don't have the ability to investigate everything that comes to them - but if she's not here, they have no chance of prosecuting - and she has a lot of evidence.

Businessman Jagtjeet Singh admitted taking $4500 from Kaur but said it was a loan he repaid.

'While some people may feel aggrieved that she's been given a second chance, I think the greater good is if we can squash these employers [who run the scams].'

Stuff's four-part investigation, The Big Scam, uncovered a network of questionable visa schemes which charged desperate migrants huge sums.

The net cafe where Damanpreet Kaur was employed on a work visa.

Kaur alleged she paid a group of Punjabi Indians in Tauranga to secure her a work visa for a job that didn't exist.

Businessman Jagadjeet Singh admitted taking $4500 from Kaur but said it was a loan that he repaid, not a charge for what Kaur said was a fake job.

The internet cafe was located at the back of a Barber shop owned by Kuldeep Singh.

Kaur secured a work visa as an IT helpdesk operative for an internet cafe owned by Jagadjeet in Merivale - but discovered the net cafe was a handful of old PCs at the back of a barber shop and there was no work for her.

She also provided tape recordings of conversations with a man she claimed was Myles Watene, a director of Hamilton company Whairepo Developments, in which she said she was paying for a job. She secured a new work visa to work for Whairepo, but said that too was a fake job and she never worked for the company.

Deborah Deepika Gounder was Kaur's Immigration adviser but denied any responsibility for verifying the job.

Delamere said Damanpreet was 'a lucky girl - this is a good result for her'.

The short version of how a visa scam got people into New Zealand - and into massive debt.

'I am guessing your story had a lot to do with it,' Delamere said.

'If you are a minister and you make decisions like this, you think: what will be the public response if it gets in the media?'

Damanpreet's reprieve was a 'win-win' for Faafoi because Kaur hadn't been given residency and may help secure criminal convictions, Delamere said.

In his letter, Faafoi said his decision to allow Kaur to stay was an exception, and 'based on the information provided to me'.

Kaur said she didn't know what the Government would require of her over the next few months but wanted to use her extended stay in the country to find a job in her field.

'Do you know any IT jobs?'