Tauranga kiwifruit labourer contractor denies unlawful worker exploitation charges

Tauranga company director Jafar Kurisi denied exploitation charges in the Tauranga District Court on February 5. Photo / George Novak

A Tauranga company director has denied a raft of migrant worker exploitation charges.

Jafar Kurisi, 56, a company director from Parkvale, pleaded not guilty to six new charges in the Tauranga District Court today through his lawyer Bill Nabney.

Kurisi, who is also known as Md Wagid Ali, earlier denied two further charges which relate to the same prosecution case.

He has pleaded not guilty to seven counts of allegedly exploiting an unlawful employee, which relates to four complainants, and a further charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice.

The exploitation charges state that as an employer while allowing an unlawful employee to work for him Kurisi had seriously defaulted in terms of payments owed to workers under the Minimum Wage and Holiday Acts.

Kurisi is also accused of asking a prosecution witness to make a false statement to Immigration New Zealand about how they were paid by him for their work.

The offences were allegedly committed in Tauranga between December 1, 2018 and October 4 last year.

The charges were laid by Immigration NZ after an investigation last year into alleged worker exploitation by labourer contractors in the Bay of Plenty kiwifruit industry.

Kurisi's lawyer Bill Nabney told Judge David Cameron that his client elected to defend the charges at a jury trial.

Judge Cameron further remanded Kurisi on bail to next appear in the Tauranga District Court on March 26 for a case review hearing in relation to all the charges.

No trial date has been set down.