A group of workers claimed they paid between $10,000-$50,000 in cash to Indian agents for visas to work in NZ. Video / Ben Dickens
S.E.A.L Security director Chetan Kumar was fined $1000 and his company has been banned from recruiting overseas staff.
The government agency that oversees the licencing and certification of the security industry found Kumar guilty of misconduct and said there is evidence to support allegations of migrant exploitation.
Migrant Workers’ Association president Anu Kaloti criticised the penalty as too lenient and said Immigration New Zealand’s own investigation into the case was taking too long.
Kumar told the Herald he’s the victim of unproven allegations made by a small number of staff.
A Lamborghini-driving security company boss accused of exploiting migrant workers has been fined $1000 and his business has been banned from recruiting overseas staff.
The adverse ruling was made by the Private Security Personnel Licensing Authority (PSPLA) against Chetan Kumar, the director of Auckland-based securityguard company S.E.A.L Security Limited.
Kumar was found guilty of misconduct for “intentionally” running a security guard business without a licence and was described as “reckless” for refusing to take responsibility for staff he’d brought into the country, the authority’s ruling said.
Chetan Kumar was found guilty of misconduct by the agency that oversees the security industry. Photo / Supplied
Four of Kumar’s workers told the authority that they made cash payments of between $10,000 and $50,000 to agents in India for visas to come to New Zealand, only to find the promised security work evaporated soon after they arrived in Auckland.
Mr Kumar is remiss by not further investigating his Indian based agents’ practices
Kumar, who has worked in the security industry for a decade, has previously shared photos of himself on Facebook sitting on the bonnet of a yellow Lamborghini Huracan outside his Auckland home.
He featured in the same car in a 2019 promo video for a visiting Punjabi rap star.
Chetan Kumar was featured driving a yellow Lamborghini in a 2019 promo video of a visiting Punjabi rap star. Photo / Light and Dusk / JK Star Productions
During the PSPLA’s case, which was heard at the Auckland District Court, Kumar denied mistreating his workers, claiming they’d “made up” allegations against him.
On the claims of massive cash payments being made as a prerequisite for jobs in New Zealand, Kumar argued the workers had failed to provide evidence of any money being transferred into his agents’ accounts.
However, the licensing authority’s chair Trish McConnell found this explanation was “disingenuous” saying the workers alleged the payments were made in cash, and as such, there was no record of bank transactions.
“It is well publicised that cash payments to obtain work visas for New Zealand are often required. I consider Mr Kumar is therefore remiss by not further investigating his Indian-based agents’ practices,” McConnell said.
There is evidence to support migrant exploitation
McConnell said Kumar initially treated his workers well and took “all necessary steps” to get them work and pay.
However, when the security work dried up in August 2023 – a few months after the workers arrived in Auckland – McConnell said Kumar still had a “legal and moral duty” to provide work and he should have helped his staff change their visas so they could work for other firms.
She said there was “no shortage” of security work in New Zealand at the time.
The authority’s complaints, investigation and prosecution unit found “evidence to support migrant exploitation” but noted Immigration New Zealand’s (INZ) own investigations into these claims were ongoing.
Kumar was linked to two different security companies – S.E.A.L Security Limited and Seal Security Solutions Limited (SSSL).
It was established that SSSL, which went into liquidation, operated without a security licence for three years.
The ruling reveals Kumar changed his story during the authority’s hearing when trying to explain why SSSL did not have a licence.
He initially claimed he didn’t know the business needed one and later said he “forgot” to apply for the licence, arguing the mistake was not intentional.
McConnell did not accept either explanation, concluding that Kumar “intentionally” breached the rules and was therefore guilty of misconduct.
Trish McConnell is the chair of the Private Security Personnel Licensing Authority which oversees the security guard and private investigator industries.
The authority also suggested Kumar and his immigration consultant misrepresented their position to INZ by failing to disclose that both S.E.A.L and SSSL had an employment arrangement known as “triangular employment” – where an employee is employed by one company but then works under the control and direction of a different firm.
Both SEAL and SSSL farmed out security guards to different sites around Auckland, which they did not operate or own.
Despite both companies having triangular arrangements, Kumar applied for a different type of accreditation.
Applying for accreditation as a triangular employer is more expensive and there are more stringent obligations for employers – rules that are specifically designed to prevent migrant exploitation.
Kumar blamed poor advice from his immigration consultant for the mistake. Again, this was not accepted by the authority.
McConnell also rejected Kumar’s claim that this was the first time he and his company had made mistakes, noting that in 2018 police issued S.E.A.L with a formal warning for using uncertified security guards.
Chetan Kumar outside his home in Auckland. Photo / Supplied
Despite identifying multiple failures, McConnell stopped short of stripping or suspending Kumar’s operating certificate, given the impact this would have on other immigrant workers still employed by S.E.A.L security.
She also noted the company had been subject to “significant” media scrutiny, which had had a negative impact on Kumar and his business.
McConnell did not rule out the PSPLA revisiting Kumar’s suitability to hold a licence but told the Herald this would depend on the outcome of INZ’s investigation.
INZ, which the Herald understands has been investigating Kumar and the workers’ allegations since January last year, gave little away when approached for comment.
“We can confirm there is a current investigation into S.E.A.L Security. As this is an active investigation, we are unable to comment any further,” said INZ’s national manager of investigations, Jason Perry.
“Unproven allegations”: Kumar responds
In a statement to the Herald Chetan Kumar said he was the victim of unproven allegations by a small number of workers.
Kumar said he had almost 80 staff in total and “provided work to everyone”, emphasising that the allegations considered by the PSPLA related to only four workers.
He also claimed the findings of the PSPLA did not relate to S.E.A.L Security Limited or its staff but concerned his now defunct security business, SSSL.
That’s despite the authority explicitly stating in its decision that the penalties it had imposed were indeed in relation to S.E.A.L Security Limited, and that a condition is placed on “SEAL’s licence” to stop the company recruiting any more immigrant workers.
Kumar denied being linked to the agents in India who allegedly received cash payments from those he ended up employing.
“Those employees had not been recruited through my agent in India. Their agents applied to my company to employ them.”
He accepted responsibility for not having a licence when operating SSSL, saying this was an “oversight” and said he should have applied for triangular accreditation.
“I did not fully understand the different accreditations that there were,” he said.
Kumar felt he’d been the victim of “one-sided, unbalanced” media reporting which had taken a huge toll on him, his family and his business.
“I lost my work and my business, there was reputational damage to my company, and it impacted my physical health and mental health,” he told the Herald.
Immigration investigations taking “far too long”
Anu Kaloti is the president of the Migrant Workers’ Association and is calling for swifter action from Immigration New Zealand. Photo / Ben Dickens
Migrant Workers’ Association president Anu Kaloti told the Herald the ruling from the PSPLA represented progress, but she felt the penalty was a mere “slap on the wrist”, arguing that the $1000 fine was “not even small change” for a company director who was known for flaunting his luxury cars.
“How many other employers do you know who are fairly young and drive around in Lamborghinis and have multiple properties?”, she told the Herald.
Action needs to be much faster
Kaloti, who has been helping advocate for the workers since their allegations first surfaced, was also critical of the time it was taking INZ to investigate the case.
“They [the workers] have not had justice. There are human lives at the other end of this. These [INZ] investigations take far too long, they’re far too slow and action needs to be much faster than it is at the moment,” she said.
Kaloti said given the time that had passed, some of the workers had gone into hiding and she was “deeply concerned” about the mental health of one worker in particular who had self-harmed.
“There’s that old saying that justice delayed is justice denied, so that’s what we’re seeing playing out here.”
Gavin Mclean is a resident of Piha who took it upon himself to assist the group of young security guards after first meeting them and learning of their plight in 2023. Photo / Ben Dickens
Piha resident Gavin McClean first met the security guards when they were standing in the rain patrolling a roadblock near his home after Cyclone Gabrielle hit.
McClean, who has no expertise in immigration matters, felt compelled to help the men who had no shelter or portaloos.
It’s a complete nightmare for them
Since that first meeting, he’s been on a quest to try and get justice for the workers, who he claimed still owed vast amounts of money back home in India due to the cash forked out for the jobs.
He was “grateful” the PSPLA had found Kumar guilty of misconduct but like Kaloti felt the penalty was “very light” and wanted to see Kumar’s ability to run a personal security business revoked.
He said his contact with the workers was intermittent.
“They’re finding it very hard, and they are distressed. It’s a complete nightmare for them”, McClean said.
He too was critical of the apparent lack of action from INZ.
“That is very disappointing on behalf of the boys that I’m involved with. They’re heartbroken, they’re lost, and they’re in a country they do not know. This all happened well over a year ago,” he said.
The workers came into New Zealand on the Accredited Employer Work Visa scheme, which was set up after the Covid-19 border closures to streamline processes for employers to get overseas staff into the country.
The scheme was based on a high trust model and led to a surge in migrant exploitation, with multiple cases of workers paying illegal premiums for jobs that were often non-existent.
Michael Morrah is a senior investigative reporter/team leader at the Herald. He won the best coverage of a major news event at the 2024 Voyager NZ Media Awards and has twice been named reporter of the year. He has been a broadcast journalist for 20 years and joined the Herald‘s video team in July 2024.
