Home detention for illegal passport sale
A 35-year-old Chinese man who sold his passport and then reported it missing to the police was sentenced to home detention for 18 weeks.
Hao Tan, a retailer from Halswell, applied for a transit visa into Australia, and sent it, with his passport, to an address in Hong Kong.
He told police he did not know what the people he sent it to were going to do with it, but it was used by an imposter to enter Australia and apply for asylum.
Defence counsel Serina Bailey told the Christchurch District Court sentencing that Tan sold the passport when he needed money, but knew the passport would go to China. He received between $3000 and $5000 for it in 2008.
She said Tan would also be under the scrutiny of the Immigration Department about remaining in New Zealand after his sentencing.
Tan was originally charged with people smuggling but the police dropped that charge when he pleaded guilty to a charge of improperly dealing with a passport.
Judge John Bergseng said the offence involved the sale of one of the most important immigration documents there was.
Tan’s pre-sentence report said Tan was remorseful, had no previous convictions, and was a low-risk of re-offending.
Judge Bergseng said immigration fraud was viewed seriously by the court, and sentenced Tan to home detention.
Category: Focus
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