Ex-minister not interested in immigration issues, court told

Tuariki John Delamere. icture / Glenn Jeffrey

Former Immigration Minister Tuariki John Delamere was only interested in money transfers and not real immigration issues, a court was told today.

Delamere's former Chinese business partner, whose name is suppressed, was giving evidence at a depositions hearing of ten fraud and forgery charges against the former MP.

A witness said through a Chinese interpreter his signature was forged on several documents involving deposits of $1 million or more on three-year investments.

Those documents were to be used in applications for permanent residence visas from the Immigration Service.

Delamere faces seven charges of intending to defraud by using a document for pecuniary advantage and three charges of forgery -- all laid by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO).

The SFO alleges Delamere falsely told the Immigration Service seven of his clients had invested $1 million of their own money in New Zealand which would qualify them for residency under a business migration category, which he had introduced as minister.

The SFO said Delamere had attempted to mislead the Immigration Service by saying his clients had deposited the money and that the funds worth $7 million existed.

The SFO said the money did not come from the clients but from a Chinese man and was used seven times for seven different applications.

The Chinese man and Delamere were alleged to have shared the commission from the clients.

Delamere said he had not broken the law and it was a matter of legal interpretation.

The hearing was expected to last for the rest of this week for two Justices of the Peace to decide if a prima facie case existed and the matter would go to trial.

- NZPA