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Four Hawke's Bay men each face 29 charges of breaching the Immigration Act, after investigations into the illegal employment of foreigners by Hawke's Bay and Marlborough grape and fruitgrowers.
The charges follow a two-day Department of Labour operation in December last year, after information had been gathered on people suspected of helping foreigners work illegally in horticulture and viticulture.
It also investigated people employing workers while denying them minimum wages or holiday pay.
Five others have been charged this year in Hastings, Nelson and Blenheim as a result of the operation.
The men charged in Hastings District Court today were Dharminger Singh, 39, of Flaxmere, Michael Wauchop Porter, Hastings, Miles Gaisford Elliott, 43, Hastings and Surjiit Singh, 60, of Hastings.
All are described as company directors.
The men initially appeared on June 14 jointly charged with a total of 112 offences. Another charge against each of them was laid today.
Counsel for the department, Emma Cotton, said the case was the "tip of the iceberg" and there was a substantial amount of documentation involved because the investigation had taken more than a year.
She had concerns about pre-trial influences in the case, saying she understood there had already been some approaches to witnesses.
The defendants faced serious charges and the department would be seeking significant prison terms if they were convicted, she said.
Defence counsel Bill Calver asked for prosecution documents to be disclosed by August 3 to give the defence adequate time to assess them.
He said the pre-depositions hearing could take anything from two to six weeks because of the substantial detail of the case.
Judge Wolff remanded the four men on bail until October 18 for a pre-depositions hearing.
- NZPA
