Man lied about HIV to get NZ residency

By CLAIRE TREVETT

A Ghanaian man who lied about having HIV on a medical certificate has been convicted of getting New Zealand residency fraudulently.

Ishmael Asamoah arrived in New Zealand in February 2001 and has lived and worked here since.

He had known he had HIV since 1998.

But in 2000, in his medical certificate to get a residency visa, he ticked "no" to the question on whether he was HIV-positive.

On the basis of his residency visa, he was given a residency permit upon arriving in New Zealand.

Asamoah pleaded not guilty to the charge, believed to be the Labour Department's first over medical information provided in an application for New Zealand residency.

He had applied as the spouse of an Australian, for whom residency permits are automatic.

Asamoah and his wife separated before he came to New Zealand when she discovered he lied about having the virus after they were both tested before their 1999 marriage.

His wife discovered she had contracted the virus when she was pregnant with their daughter, who was born in 2000.

In 2003, she won $727,437 in damages after suing two Sydney doctors for negligence in not telling her of Asamoah's HIV status.

In an interview in March this year with Immigration Service fraud investigator John Marston, Asamoah said he did not know why he had not ticked "yes" to the HIV question.

"They did not ask me. I knew they would want to know but because they did not ask me, I did not tell. I'm sorry I was not able to tell Immigration I had HIV."

He had also not told Immigration that his wife had left him by the time he moved to New Zealand.

Asamoah's lawyer, Colin Amery, said it had not been shown Asamoah had deliberately and dishonestly intended to defraud.

Labour Department lawyer Jane Rushton said Asamoah set out with the intent to defraud. New Zealand residency was "a highly valued commodity to a Ghanaian with this condition", she said.

Judge Anne Kiernan said Asamoah himself had accepted that the information on the medical certificate was untrue, and that information led to the visa being granted.

The court was also shown a taped interview from Network Nine's A Current Affair programme, in which Asamoah said he was sorry for lying to his wife.

He said he was getting the treatment he needed and wanted to stay in New Zealand.

He also said he wanted to see his daughter again, although his former wife had told him she was changing their daughter's name and he was no longer her father.

The Labour Department indicated it would apply for costs.

Asamoah will be sentenced on December 16.