Wellington - The leader of a self-styled Maori sovereignty
group, alleged to have charged immigrants hundreds of dollars for
stamping fake residence permits in their passports, faced three
charges of deception when he appeared Wednesday in court.
Gerard Otimi, who made no plea, was remanded on bail until August
5 to reappear at the Manukau District Court near Auckland and ordered
to surrender his passport.
The charges were reported to relate to immigrants from Pacific
island states who have overstayed their visitor permits and paid
Otimi 500 New Zealand dollars (315 US dollars) each for their
passports to be stamped.
Police alleged that they were given certificates of adoption into
Otimi's sub-tribe and led to believe that they then had permanent
residence visas to stay in New Zealand.
A Maori supporter, Amati Akarana Rewi, told reporters that the
court had no jurisdiction over Maoris, according to the New Zealand
Herald website.
'Statute is void to the sovereign Maori nation,' he said.
When police arrested Otimi on Tuesday, they said that officers
armed with search warrants had recovered 40,000 New Zealand dollars
(25,200 US dollars) in cash and 5,000 blank certificates for
membership of his sub-tribe from his property.
The charges follow news reports that thousands of Pacific island
immigrants attended meetings last week in the Auckland region and
paid Otimi 500 New Zealand dollars each in the belief that they were
buying permanent residence permits.
Immigration officials estimate that there about 17,000 people who
have illegally overstayed their visitor permits in New Zealand, many
of them from Pacific island countries like Samoa and Tonga, which
have large populations in Auckland, New Zealand's largest city.
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