A man who stole $23,000 in a Sim card scam has escaped deportation to allow him to pay his debts.
Instead, Jaswinder Jass Singh has been given an eight-month work visa.
Singh, a citizen of India, has been in New Zealand since 2014 on student and work visas.
He was convicted in July of dishonestly using a document after taking part in a “Sim-swapping scheme”.
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According to legal documents, the scheme involved getting hold of unsuspecting people’s Sim card details, then using those to access their bank accounts and take money.
The judge noted Singh’s role in the scheme was that of a “secondary mule”, and while he stole tens of thousands of dollars, he would not have kept that money for himself.
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Jaswinder Jass Singh stole $23,000 from people’s bank accounts. (File photo)
Singh was sentenced to 12 months’ supervision and ordered to pay reparations of $23,000.
The 28-year-old was then served with a deportation liability notice due to his offending, which he appealed to the Immigration and Protection Tribunal.
The tribunal’s recently released decision showed Singh argued deportation would be unjust because of the Covid-19 outbreak in India.
If he returned there, he would be “exposed to a catastrophic…
