Maori and Pacific leaders warn of fake passport scam

Maori and Pacific Island leaders are warning about a scam offering false passports or visas for $500 around south Auckland.

The bogus documents - some believed to be in the name of the Maori Party - were offered at a meeting last night at Manurewa which attracted up to 4000 people.

Police said that another meeting was to be held tonight in Mangere but there were few details available about where it would be held or how it was being advertised.

Inspector Karen Wilson said police in Counties-Manukau and the Waikato were scrambling to find out whether any laws had been broken.

She was not aware of any official complaints but they could have been reported elsewhere.

Mangere MP Su'a William Sio warned people to beware of the passport scammers.

"If anyone has paid money over to this rogue group, you have been fooled. It's a complete and utter sham," he said today.

"Any visa or residency stamps in your passport from this group are worthless and have no legal status whatsoever."

Mr Sio said he received reports of Pacific people, mainly Samoans and Tongans, handing over $500 to a group claiming to have the authority to issue visas and permanent residency.

"In return, they received a fake visa or permanent residency stamp on their passport," Mr Sio said.

"The actions of these rascals are despicable. Shame on them for preying on desperate people."

He said the New Zealand Immigration Service was the only legitimate body in this country which could issue visas and permanent residency.

Last night Maori Party co-leader Pita Sharples said fraudsters were offering passports in the name of his party.

The Maori Affairs minister said he had been told that meetings targeting Pacific Island communities had been called "by crooks claiming to represent the Maori Party".

"The group calls itself Hapu Tino Rangatiratanga Atawhai Whangai," he said.

"We know of meetings at Manurewa marae and in Hamilton, where over 1000 people turned up, and there may be others.

"My electorate representatives have succeeded in closing down one meeting, but we have been told that some people have already paid $500 each for a fake passport or a visa for overstayers," Dr Sharples said.

"This is a scam. I have alerted the police, and if anyone else hears of any such meetings, they should call the police straight away."

Dr Sharples warned people not to pay money to anyone for a passport, except the Internal Affairs Department's passports division.

It is understood that the group offering the passports is linked to the Maori sovereignty group Ko Huiarau which formed in the early 1800s when European settlement began.

- NZPA