Immigration NZ investigation finds no criminal wrongdoing by accredited company accused of fake job contracts

A company facing allegations about duping South American migrants into coming to New Zealand on fake job contracts as part of the Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) scheme has been found to have committed no criminal wrongdoing.

In an email to complainants, Immigration NZ said a thorough criminal investigation into the company had been conducted which included complainant interviews, gathering of significant documentation, and interviewing Buildhub for their account.

“Migrant exploitation and other serious offences were considered during this investigation,” the letter said.

“A high threshold needs to be met for criminal prosecution and, taking into account all the information and evidence available, the threshold for taking the matter further has not been reached.”

Dozens of Migrant Exploitation Protection Visas linked to the company have been granted to migrant workers who claimed they were not given the jobs or hours they had signed up for.

Jorge Arriaza (left) was granted a Migrant Exploitation Protection Visa after arriving from Chile with his wife Cristina Diaz and their children Renata Arriaza, 3 and Rafael Arriaza, 5.

Former employee Jorge Arriaza, from Chile, who was granted a MEPV after complaining about his plight at Buildhub said he was surprised at the investigation outcome.

“We are surprised to find that despite all the evidence, INZ said that Buildhub did not commit any fault and that all this is just a miscommunication,” Arriaza said.

“This is a mockery for the victims.”

National manager Immigration Investigations James Friend confirmed the investigation conducted by INZ’s investigations team into the labour hire company had concluded with findings that the company had committed no criminal wrongdoing.

“Immigration investigations look at criminal wrongdoing in accordance with the Immigration Act 2009,” Friend said.

However Friend said migrant workers linked to the company who have obtained exploitation visas will not have them revoked, but he was unable to make further comments for privacy reasons.

In the email, complainants were advised to visit Employment New Zealand website’s early resolution page to request for support if they liked to pursue the complaint further.

“From an Immigration perspective, a referral will also be made to Immigration New Zealand’s Risk and Verification team to request greater monitoring of Buildhub in the accreditation and post-accreditation process,” the letter said.

It said the investigation highlighted some issues in communication between Buildhub, its employees and INZ.

In July last year, the Herald reported that about 250 people from South American countries had arrived on work and visitor visas linked to Buildhub, an approved accredited employer by INZ.

Complainants from Chile and Colombia told the Herald they borrowed thousands of dollars to come to NZ after being promised construction jobs with high pay rates at Buildhub.

However, since arriving some found they had no jobs and others offered far fewer working hours than they were promised.

Buildhub has been approached for comments.

As at February 2, INZ had received 1985 complaints against accredited employers and there are currently 167 active investigations underway.

A total of 136 employers have had their accreditation revoked and 51 have been suspended.

There were currently also 51 employers who are under assessment to have their accreditation revoked.

The AEWV is currently under review.