Czech drug-smuggler Karel Sroubek has nine days to respond to Immigration NZ's findings

Convicted drug-smuggler Karel Sroubek has been given the findings of Immigration NZ's investigation into his residency case and has nine days to respond. Photo / Steven McNicholl

Immigration NZ has completed its initial investigation into the residency case of Czech drug-smuggler Karel Sroubek and has passed the findings to him for a response.

Sroubek has until the next Friday to respond, which is right on the deadline for Immigration NZ to complete its investigation.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway have said they would like the results as quickly as possible.

Sroubek's case has dominated political headlines as the National Party has called for Lees-Galloway to be sacked for what they say was an incompetent decision.

The minister decided to cancel Sroubek's deportation liability, even though Sroubek had gang associations and is in prison for smuggling MDMA.

He then ordered a review of the decision after a court document noted that Sroubek was twice granted leave to travel to Europe in 2009, which potentially contradicted the reasons why Lees-Galloway granted residency in the first place.

In a statement, INZ said the initial findings were complete.

"Immigration NZ has presented the findings to Mr Sroubek and given him the opportunity to comment and provide his views on any possible decision.

"Mr Sroubek has been given until Friday 23 November to respond. INZ will then review any comments from Mr Sroubek before his case is presented to the Minister.

"INZ cannot make any comment on the content of its initial findings."

Last night Sroubek's mother Mila Sroubkova, speaking to Radio NZ's Checkpoint, said her son was not a gangster and pleaded to Lees-Galloway to give her son one final chance.

She also confirmed that Sroubek travelled to the Czech Republic in 2009 for one night, leaving after his family told him to for his own safety.

It is believed that Sroubek's 2009 travel was not included in the original case file, and part of the reason for granting residency was due to fears for Sroubek's safety if he was deported.

Sroubkova said those fears were very real.

"He is really in danger and he needs some help to keep his life. His life is not just a ball that is used for political gains," she told Checkpoint.

She said that Sroubek's wife had filed for divorce and her new partner was former Waitemata Local Board member Mark Davey, who ran on the centre-right Auckland Future ticket in 2016.

Sroubek and his wife are also in dispute over a $2.3m property in Remuera that Sroubek has placed a caveat on in a claim of matrimonial property.

The property was allegedly burgled a few days after Sroubek lodged his claim, but he has said he had nothing to do with the incident.

Sroubkova suggested that the case was a political hit and claimed that Davey was a member of the National Party.

A spokesperson for the party said Davey was not and had never been a member of the National Party.

National's immigration spokesman Michael Woodhouse and justice spokesman Mark Mitchell, who have been pressuring Lees-Galloway over the case, said they have never met Davey.

A spokesperson for the party said leader Simon Bridges and deputy leader Paula Bennett cannot recall having met Davey and have not spoken with him about Sroubek.

Davey did not respond to requests for comment.

Sroubek's credibility and that of his mother was previously questioned in a court judgment last year rejecting Sroubek's appeal against his conviction for drug-smuggling.

The court said that the jury "was entitled to reject [Sroubek's] evidence and that of his mother as simply not credible".

Meanwhile a spokesman for Lees-Galloway said that the minister has agreed to give Mitchell a briefing on the Sroubek case at an appropriate time.

Mitchell previously said that the minister should have offered National a briefing to explain the reasons for his decision, but only requested one in writing last Wednesday.