Recently, Jafar Kurisi, owner of a kiwi orchard in Tauranga, New Zealand, was accused of multiple exploitations of migrant workers.
Last week, he appeared in Tauranga Magistrates' Court and pleaded guilty to seven counts, revealing details that were outrageous.
Kurisi employs workers mainly from Indonesia and Malaysia, and migration agents pay them high salaries and lend money to pay for visa fees and airfares.
The first victim borrowed NZ$11,850 from an intermediary and promised to pay it off within three years.
Other workers paid visa and service fees in the belief that they had New Zealand work permits.
Kurisi employs these workers to do a variety of jobs such as picking and pruning in the kiwi orchards of the Bay of Plenty.
The workers worked an average of 51 hours a week, and Kurisi was promised $13 an hour, but the workers actually got only about $5 an hour.
Even at the statutory minimum wage, these victims are owed a total of 121,13406 New Zealand dollar salary.
Many workers do not speak English, do not understand the law, and do not know how to defend their rights.
Kurisi lives nearly 20 workers in his garage, and he deducts $100 a week from their salaries in rent.
Kurisi has five residences in Tauranga, each housing a large number of workers, many of whom live in garages.
According to the court report, the garage was cramped, there was no heating or insulation, and there were not enough mattresses, and some workers had to sleep on the floor.
Sure enough, the bottom line of the bosses who exploit workers does not have a minimum, only a lower ......
This is not the first time Kurisi has been investigated and charged.
In 2017, he was sentenced to 12 months of home detention for exploiting 13 migrant workers and ordered to pay $55,000 in compensation.
Early allegations against him were mainly the provision of low-quality accommodation, as well as non-payment of minimum wage and holiday pay.
By 2020, Immigration New Zealand received reports of exploitation of Zespri workers and brought new charges against Kurisi.
In the new charges, he is linked to a human trafficking case in New Zealand where trafficker Faroz Ali is accused of tricking 15 Fijian workers into working in New Zealand.
Other charges include obstruction of justice by Kurisi having prosecution witnesses make false statements.
Judge Paul Geoghegan convicted Kurisi of all counts and his release on bail will be handed down on May 1.