Two people have been sentenced for orchestrating a prolonged campaign of deception targeting New Zealand’s immigration and citizenship systems, marking the end of a complex investigation that spanned several years.
Wijdan Taha Kareem Almajidi received nine and a half months’ home detention, while Hussein Hasan Dawood was sentenced to ten and a half months’ home detention, after being found guilty of using false identities, fraudulent travel documents, and repeated misrepresentation to authorities.
As per Immigration New Zealand (INZ), investigators uncovered that Almajidi entered New Zealand in 2016 under the identity of Dawood’s sister, a New Zealand citizen who had left the country years earlier. That false identity became the cornerstone of an elaborate scheme that included international travel, registering a child’s birth under false details, and submitting successive fraudulent applications for New Zealand passports, residence, and citizenship.
Steve Watson, General Manager of Immigration Compliance and Investigations, said in a statement that the offending was deliberate and sustained.
“This wasn’t a mistake or a one-off lapse in judgement.”
“It was a scheme built carefully and deliberately over time, with each step designed to reinforce the deception and keep it hidden.”
Further layers of deceit emerged during the investigation, including false claims that the pair’s daughter had been born in Iraq, when she was actually born in New Zealand.
The conflicting information across official documents was intended to conceal Almajidi’s unlawful presence in the country.
Watson emphasised the broader impact of such cases. “When people go to such lengths to deceive the system, they undermine the fairness that New Zealanders expect and rely on.”
“This case shows how sustained dishonesty can ripple across multiple systems and years.”
He also praised the collaboration between agencies, particularly with the Department of Internal Affairs, for bringing the case to a conclusion.
“By working closely together and sharing information and expertise, we were able to piece together the full picture and ensure those responsible were held to account.”
The outcome serves as a warning, Watson added: “Schemes like this may be carefully hidden, but they do not stay hidden forever. When people attempt to defraud New Zealand’s immigration system, we will uncover it and act decisively to protect the integrity and fairness of our processes.”
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