{"id":304246,"date":"2026-02-27T03:41:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T03:41:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/304246\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T03:41:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T03:41:10","slug":"home-detention-for-ex-immigration-adviser-who-faked-jobs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/304246\/","title":{"rendered":"Home detention for ex-immigration adviser who faked jobs"},"content":{"rendered":"

A former immigration adviser has been sentenced to ten months’ home detention for setting up a scheme where migrants were misled about fabricated jobs. <\/p>\n

Former licensed immigration adviser Tzu Tong Ma (also known as Jane Ma and Zi Tong Ma) set up a scheme involving fabricated roles to mislead potential migrants into believing work was waiting for them in New Zealand. <\/p>\n

It’s not the first time Ma has faced prosecution from authorities<\/a>, having previously been ordered to repay nearly $60,000 for breaches of her obligations by the Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment. Her latest prosecution came from Immigration New Zealand. <\/p>\n

The scheme she was sentenced for yesterday took place in February 2023, when she submitted three Accredited Employer Work Visa applications on behalf of three Chinese nationals. <\/p>\n

The applications relied on false employment information and fraudulent agreements claiming the migrants had construction jobs awaiting them. <\/p>\n

The three migrants had paid “substantial sums”, believing they were coming to real jobs. <\/p>\n

When they arrived, however, they found no employment existed.<\/p>\n

Steve Watson, general manager of immigration compliance and investigations at INZ, called Ma’s scheme “deliberate” and said it undermined the integrity of New Zealand’s immigration system. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis case reflects the real harm caused when individuals abuse their professional position and exploit migrants seeking opportunities in New Zealand,\u201d Watson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will not tolerate this kind of offending. Anyone who seeks to profit from vulnerable people or undermine the integrity of New Zealand\u2019s immigration system will be held to account.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you break the law, misuse your position, or take advantage of migrants for financial gain – including through false job offers – there will be consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ma had previously been fined<\/a> tens of thousands of dollars over a string of other breaches. <\/p>\n

In April 2024, her license was suspended and subsequently cancelled, and she was ordered to repay two complainants a total of $58,500 in compensation, along with a $10,000 penalty.<\/p>\n

The morning’s headlines in 90 seconds, including the Clintons front up over Epstein, and Australasia\u2019s biggest festival takes over Christchurch. (Source: Breakfast)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A former immigration adviser has been sentenced to ten months’ home detention for setting up a scheme where…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":304247,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[67,917,111,43,139,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-304246","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-crime-and-justice","9":"tag-immigration","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-newzealand","13":"tag-nz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=304246"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304246\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/304247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=304246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=304246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=304246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}