The couple appeared for sentencing in the Hamilton District Court last week before Judge Tini Clark after abandoning an earlier plan to each file for a Section 106 discharge without conviction.
Instead, Dawood had admitted three charges and Almajidi two charges under the Immigration and Citizenship Acts.
Judge Clark labelled their actions as “a deliberate, systemic course of action” intended to undermine the New Zealand immigration service.
‘Married in 2014, used wrong identity in 2016′
Dawood came to New Zealand with his family in 1997 and holds a permanent residence visa.
He married Almajidi in Iraq in 2014.
In November 2015, Dawood’s sister had her passport renewed, containing Almajidi’s photo, which allowed the latter to travel freely to and from New Zealand.
Dawood’s sister left New Zealand in November 2013 and has never returned.
Almajidi used that passport six times, between January 2016 and November 2018, which is the basis of her charge of using a passport that relates to another person as if it relates to oneself.
She also admitted a jointly laid charge of supplying false information to an immigration officer about her residence and relationship history, and her child’s birth details.
Almajidi had her residence visa approved under Dawood’s sister’s name in September 2018.
‘A long and painful 14 months’
Dawood admitted a charge of aiding or abetting Almajidi in procuring a passport under his sister’s name and procuring a citizenship document for his daughter using false information.
When their first child was born in Waikato Hospital in April 2016, she was registered under the names of Dawood and his sister to hide the fact Almajidi was unlawfully in the country at the time.
The couple then got their child a passport and all three travelled together to Iraq.
Two years later, Almajidi gave birth to their second child in Iraq.
Within two months, the couple filed an application for citizenship and passport documents for their first child, where they declared Almajidi as the “other parent”, but falsely claimed the youngster was born in Iraq.
That application sought to legitimise Almajidi as the “true mother” and remove Dawood’s sister’s name.
The couple were both sentenced to home detention in the Hamilton District Court last week. Photo / Belinda Feek
Almajidi then filed a New Zealand residence application in 2017 based on partnership and supported by Dawood, which included “multiple” statements that were false, including where their child was born.
Dawood’s documentation falsely stated he had missed his daughter’s birth because she was born in Iraq and he hadn’t met her until more than a year later.
Almajidi had described those 14 months as “long and painful”.
When eventually busted by authorities, Dawood admitted his wife had first travelled with him back to New Zealand in 2016, that their daughter had been born in New Zealand, and they’d falsely named their daughter’s mother as his sister.
He also admitted to falsifying various official documents to conceal the fact she was already living with him.
‘She’s sincere and reflective of her mistakes’
Almajidi’s counsel, Vhari Thursby, sought a 15% discount for her guilty pleas and pushed for a home detention sentence.
A pre-sentence report noted she presented as “sincere and reflective of her mistakes”.
She’d also filed other “material” in order to get more discounts, but Judge Clark said it was now hard to believe any information the couple had filed or that they themselves said.
Almajidi’s own affidavit couldn’t be given any weight, “given the number of times they have misled a government department” as it was “arguably self-serving”, the judge said.
But Thursby said her client, who now has three children, had remained steadfast in her explanation since being interviewed by immigration again in 2023.
‘There was no other option’
When pressed as to why her client behaved this way, Sarah Fraser, counsel for Dawood, said: “It was because there was no other option available”.
“The issue with getting Ms Almajidi out of Iraq was one where there was no other option but to provide misleading information.
“This is a package deal. They have made the decisions together.
“There were options available, I have to concede that, to do things correctly … they haven’t done that.”
‘A deliberate, systematic course of action’
Judge Clark said their offending had struck at the heart of the systems in place to control the country’s border.
“I consider that your offending was premeditated and calculated and in some ways reasonably sophisticated because it took place over a period of years and a number of different junctures at which there was deliberate dishonest contact.
“I consider that this was a deliberate and systematic course of action designed to defeat and undermine the integrity of the New Zealand immigration service.”
She hoped the sentencing would reiterate “just how unacceptable and harmful your behaviour was”.
Dawood was sentenced to 10-and-a-half months’ home detention, while Almajidi was sentenced to nine-and-a-half months.
‘A calculated web of deceit’
Immigration New Zealand general manager immigration compliance and investigations Steve Watson said the offending was deliberate, calculated and sustained.
“This wasn’t a mistake or a one-off lapse in judgment.
“It was a scheme built carefully and deliberately over time, with each step designed to reinforce the deception and keep it hidden,” Watson said.
As the investigation progressed, more deceit was exposed.
“This was a carefully constructed web of deceit, designed to withstand scrutiny and remain hidden for years.
“Our investigators patiently and methodically unravelled it, strand by strand, demonstrating the strength of our investigative capability and our commitment to protecting the integrity of New Zealand’s immigration system.”
Watson also acknowledged the role of inter-agency collaboration, particularly with the Department of Internal Affairs, in bringing the case to a conclusion.
Belinda Feek is an Open Justice reporter based in Waikato. She has worked at NZME for 11 years and has been a journalist for 22.