Migrant criminal flees justice

A criminal with a history of using fake passports was allowed to enter and stay in New Zealand for years - then skipped the country after allegedly stabbing a man.

The case has angered Act leader Rodney Hide, who warned the Government almost three years ago that Shabhir Ahmed Abbasi should be kicked out of the country.

"He is not the sort of immigrant we should be welcoming to our country," he wrote to then-Immigration Minister, Lianne Dalziel, in December 2003.

Dalziel promised to investigate - but was out of her portfolio three months later. Her office yesterday referred questions to associate immigration minister Clayton Cosgrove, who referred questions to minister David Cunliffe - who did not return calls.

Since Hide warned the Government, Abbasi had settled into life in South Auckland, where he ran a thriving but illegal car sales business before being charged with passport fraud in November 2004. He was convicted and ordered to leave New Zealand by June 2005.

Abbasi still had court dates for two serious criminal cases against him. Police confirmed yesterday that Abbasi had been expected to appear in Manukau District Court on July 18, 2005 to face fraud charges and in Tauranga District Court on August 23, 2005 for stabbing a man.

The later charges were serious; Abbasi faced a maximum 14 years in prison for wounding with intent and attempting to cause grievous bodily harm. But he never appeared and had since vanished - with friends saying he had now left the country. If so, it appears that he again used a passport that was not his own because Immigration New Zealand has no record that he left.

Last night, Immigration New Zealand's deputy secretary of workforce Mary Anne Thompson admitted the department did not know where Abbasi was. She said information had been received that Abbasi had left. "However, this information lacked enough detail to be confirmed."

She urged anyone with information about Abbasi's location to contact the department.

"New Zealand has robust border security measures. But like most other countries in the world, we are not immune to those small numbers of people who will go to great lengths to get into a country under false pretences," she said.

There were also "increasingly sophisticated methods of producing false passports" but the department had improved intelligence- gathering and profiling of immigrants to pick out those who should not be here.

Abbasi's escape from New Zealand came to light after he contacted his Manukau wife Maimun Nisha from overseas.

He told her "I divorce you" three times, according to friends of Nisha. It was a traditional method of ending the marriage, one said.

A former worker from the car business said yesterday that Abbasi had no legal right to operate as a motor vehicle dealer but sold dozens of cars through the Ellerslie Car Fair and from his Papatoetoe home.

Abbasi was also known to tout himself as an "immigration consultant" and an employment adviser, organising gangs of workers for seasonal fruit picking.

Hide spelled out concerns over Abbasi's background in a detailed letter to Dalziel, saying that Abbasi had bought a fake Fijian passport while in Japan, and had moved to Fiji.

On a trip out of the country, he was caught and charged with possession of a fake passport. He offered to give evidence against the passport ring - then skipped the country once he was given a new false passport.

Abbasi then travelled home to Pakistan, then to Malaysia, from where he travelled to New Zealand. He produced a false Malaysian passport at Auckland International Airport and claimed refugee status.

Hide told Dalziel that Abbasi had withdrawn his refugee application before it was heard and married Nisha, who has New Zealand citizenship. Abbasi then applied for citizenship by virtue of his marriage.

It is unknown if this was granted - but Abbasi was still in New Zealand 18 months later.

Hide wrote in 2003: "I do not believe that Mr Abbasi should be granted permanent residence. He is not the sort of immigrant we should be welcoming to our country."

Last night Hide said he had hoped the Government would have listened to his warning three years ago. If so, a man would not have been badly stabbed.

"They did nothing," he said of his warning.

"New Zealanders have to have very grave concerns over this country's security under Helen Clark. This crook should never have been allowed into the country.

"They let him in when they shouldn't have. They let him out when they shouldn't have. How slack is that? Why isn't Clayton Cosgrove or David Cunliffe accepting responsibility?"