Immigration scam draws prison term

A Pakistani man who married two women in attempts to fraudulently get New Zealand residency has been sentenced to eight months' jail, says the Immigration Service.

Mohammed Wasim was charged on three counts of using his refugee status to obtain benefit and giving false information to a refugee status officer.

He arrived in September 1996 and applied for residency after marrying a New Zealand resident in February 1997.

But Immigration said it was not satisfied this marriage was genuine and turned down his application.

Then in May 1999, Wasim, who now claimed to be from Kashmir in India, applied for refugee status using the false name Wasim Khan and using a false birth date.

As Wasim Khan he married another woman, while still married to the first.

Wasim's second wife, Melanie Khan/Wasim (nee MacDonald), has been convicted of giving false information to an immigration officer by providing a letter supporting her husband's refugee claim, the department said.

She was sentenced to 120 hours' community work.

- NZPA