Four members of Hamilton's Somali community have admitted rorting New Zealand's immigration laws.
Sahra Ismail, Qamar Aden, Ali Abdi and Abdirahman Ali yesterday pleaded guilty to a raft of Immigration Act breaches.
The group's guilty pleas came in the second week of a scheduled two-week trial in the Hamilton District Court.
The four were remanded on bail by Judge Philip Connell for sentencing in April.
The Crown claims the four were responsible for planning an elaborate ruse involving false identities and forged documents to gain refugee status, work permits or residency in New Zealand.
Crown prosecutor Philip Crayton said Ismail and Abdi fled Somalia in the early to mid-1990s and gained refugee status in Holland before seeking to enter New Zealand with false identities.
However, Dutch authorities would not allow their families to join them in Holland so they hatched a plan to seek refugee status in New Zealand using false identities.
Ismail, 36, yesterday pleaded guilty to 10 counts of using a document, three counts of supplying misleading information and one of using a forged document.
Ismail's partner, Abdi, 43, admitted seven counts of using a forged document, six of supplying misleading information, three of using a document and one of aiding the completion of a misleading passenger arrival card.
Aden, 40, admitted five counts of using a document while Ali, 50, pleaded guilty to two of the same charges.
Judge Connell ordered pre-sentence reports for the four as well as reports to address the suitability of home detention and community detention.
The judge said his directions were no indication of any possible sentence the accused might receive. He said all options were open.
Source: Waikato Times
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