Computer system cuts fraud

Passport fraud using tombstones has been cut drastically since the system became computerised in 2003.

In the nine years up to and including 2003, there were 101 confirmed attempts to use the identity of a dead person to obtain a passport.

Since then, the Internal Affairs Department has encountered only 10 confirmed cases.

Now a passport application is automatically checked against death records. Previously, anyone could apply to get someone else's birth certificate.

There is still a loophole inasmuch as the name of a New Zealander whose death overseas is not recorded in NZ cannot be automatically checked.

Making a misleading false statement to obtain a document, including a passport, is an offence that can draw a maximum prison term of five years or a fine of up to $15,000, an Internal Affairs spokesman says.

Had David Garrett used the passport, he would have faced more serious charges carrying a maximum penalty of 10 years' imprisonment or a fine of up to $250,000.

The law on access to information on births, death, marriages and civil unions was tightened last year and applicants seeking access to such data now have to identify themselves.