Officer pocketed proceeds from sale of migrant's car

An immigration Service employee who has been found guilty of stealing from migrants could face up to seven years in prison.

Manjit Singh, 34, was found guilty of theft of a motor vehicle and twice receiving money and failing to account to the service for it.

A jury in the High Court at Hamilton deliberated on Thursday for about four hours before announcing its verdict.

Justice Geoffrey Venning has called for a reparation report and pre-sentence report to be prepared prior to Singh's sentencing on September 30.

During the trial the jury heard how Singh had on July 18, 2001 taken a vehicle from a Thai person who was to be deported, telling them proceeds from the sale would be used to cover costs of deportation.

However, the car was sold and Singh allegedly pocketed the money.

In November, 2003 Singh allegedly received $1900 from Thai woman Nitaya Newby from the sale of another seized car.

- NZPA