Fijian man's immigration fraud leads to jail sentence

Raymond Claudius was sentenced to 30 months jail at the Christchurch District Court after being found guilty of immigration fraud. Photo / File

A Fijian man's "lifetime of immigration fraud" has finally caught up with him.

Raymond Claudius was today sentenced to 30 months jail at the Christchurch District Court after being found guilty of three counts of providing false or misleading information in relation to his previous immigration visa applications.

In sentencing, the judge described his crimes as a "lifetime of immigration fraud".

Born in Fiji and originally known as Bal Krishna, Claudius moved to Australia in his early adult life where he was eventually deported.

He accumulated several dishonesty convictions in Fiji before he later fled to New Zealand in 1987.

Claudius lived in Nelson for two years under different names to help him to escape authorities, but he was eventually tracked down and again deported to Fiji in 1989.

In Fiji, he changed his name by deed poll to Raymond Claudius and used his new identity to travel to New Zealand in 2007.

However, in 2015, his fraudulent past was uncovered following an investigation by Immigration New Zealand.

Immigration New Zealand Assistant General Manager, Peter Devoy, welcomed the outcome.

"This case demonstrates just how seriously the courts take matters of immigration fraud," Devoy said.

"It also illustrates that where there is evidence of those who seek to abuse the system we will find you and you will be brought to justice."

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