Men accused of deceiving Afghan refugees of up to $660K keep names secret

New Zealand Defence Force personnel at the Kabul International Airport in Afghanistan in August 2021 were faced with people desperate to get out after the fall of Kabul to the Taliban. Photo / NZDF

Two men who allegedly targeted distressed Afghans trying to escape Kabul after it fell to the Taliban to fleece them of more than $400,000, will keep their names secret - for now.

The men, aged 30 and 34, reappeared in the Hamilton District Court today after being charged by the Serious Fraud Office [SFO] over alleged payments they received from those refugees for evacuation services when they were provided free by the Government.

It’s alleged the pair’s offending began shortly after the fall of Kabul on August 15, 2021, following the withdrawal of United States and NATO forces.

The SFO alleges the first defendant, who had close ties to the Afghan community and was familiar with the evacuation process, conspired with the second defendant to contact eligible people in Afghanistan and offer to organise their travel to New Zealand in exchange for payment.

Both defendants are alleged to have known there was no charge for the service yet sought between $453,912 and $658,873 from evacuees trying to flee war-torn Afghanistan.

Charging documents seen by the Herald allege the offending happened between August 15, 2021 - the day Kabul fell into Taliban hands - and November 15, 2021.

The charges carry maximum penalties of seven years’ imprisonment.

The pair appeared before Community Magistrate Ngaire Mascelle and were represented by lawyers Gavin Boot and Kerry Tustin, who successfully sought an interim name suppression extension due to the defendants’ “fears and endangerment”, Tustin said.

Not guilty pleas were also entered on all charges by both accused.

Time would also be needed to sift through the estimated 24,000 pages of disclosure still to be released to counsel from the SFO, Tustin said, before they returned for a case review hearing.

Eventually, a date was set to deal with name suppression and the case review, on September 27.

The first defendant faces charges of conspiracy to obtain by deception, obtaining by deception, using a forged document, attempting to pervert the course of justice, and obstructing an SFO investigation.

The second defendant faces a charge of conspiracy to obtain by deception.

The accused were further remanded on bail.

Belinda Feek has been a reporter for 19 years, and at the Herald for eight years before joining the Open Justice team in 2022.