Auckland, NEW ZEALAND — An Auckland immigration advisor was dishonest, negligent and unprofessional in his dealings with two Samoan brothers, a tribunal has found.
Salesa (Charles) Aioloupotea was paid thousands of dollars by the brothers in early 2018 to prepare and submit an application for New Zealand citizenship for them both.
But the pair were ineligible for citizenship, having only arrived the previous year.
Despite his hefty fee, Aioloupotea failed to make even cursory efforts towards securing citizenship for the men.
His professional misdeeds came to light in two similar decisions from the Immigration Advisers Complaints and Disciplinary Tribunal, after the brothers complained.
The pair, who have name suppression, came to New Zealand from Samoa in November 2017.
In January 2018 they had several meetings with Aioloupotea to discuss matters of residency and citizenship.
He billed them $1289 for two visitor visa applications on February 22.
Two days later, Aioloupotea issued them an invoice for $8050 for citizenship applications.
Before applying, prospective citizens must have lived in New Zealand for five years, but by that point the brothers had only been in the country for four months.
They paid him thousands of dollars towards the dubious application but did not receive receipts.
The tribunal’s judgments noted Aioloupotea did no work towards the citizenship applications, which could never have been successful.
Aiolupotea could not be reached by Stuff via his listed mobile numbers and has not replied to an email requesting comment.
His immigration adviser licence expired in January 2019, according to the Immigration Advisers Authority.
Aiolupotea's company, Breakthrough Consultancy Limited, remains registered with the Companies Office to an address in Flat Bush Rd, south Auckland.
Read more at Stuff New Zealand
Comments
Sorted by BestComments are powered by Disqus. By commenting, you agree to their privacy policy.
Powered by Disqus