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Prolink NZ Ltd, a labor hire company based on Dominion Road in Auckland, was investigated by INZ back in September last year.
Photo: RNZ/Lucy Xia
A woman previously jailed for tax evasion and providing false information to immigration authorities has emerged as the operations manager of a company embroiled in a migrant exploitation investigation.
Haiyan (Shirley) Luo was Sent to prison in 2017 for using false birth documents to bring a child out of China, and for $423,909 in tax evasion involving three companies.
RNZ has seen videos from January this year showing Luo killing dozens of workers from labor hire company Prolink NZ Ltd. spoke in Auckland.
The company has been under investigation by Immigration New Zealand (INZ) for more than a year after allegations of migrant exploitation.
At least 100 workers were on Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) at Prolink NZ Ltd, but some were unemployed, while others were not working enough hours to make ends meet. Many claimed they paid thousands of dollars for their visas.
In one of the videos provided to RNZ by a Prolink NZ Ltd employee, the woman said her name is Shirley and she was the company’s operations manager.
“The company is not mine, but I am fully responsible for the operation of the company. What I say is what counts, I can make the decisions,” she told the workers.
Two former employees of Prolink NZ Ltd, whom RNZ has agreed not to name, have confirmed that the woman in the video is Haiyan (Shirley) Luo.
One video showed an employee interrogating Luo in an angry tone, asking her why he was paid less than the hourly rate stated in his contract.
In another video, workers introduced themselves, with many saying they had come to New Zealand with their spouses and children. Most say they arrived in the first half of 2023.
RNZ has spoken to several Chinese employees with visas linked to Prolink NZ Ltdwho say they are still not getting full-time hours more than a year after INZ started investigating the company.
Prolink NZ Ltd would not answer RNZ’s questions about Luo’s role at the company and her meeting with the migrant workers earlier this year.
When RNZ asked Luo in a telephone interview about her involvement with the company, she said “until the investigation is completed, we would not respond to any questions”.
Luo confirmed that the video was taken in January this year and that more than 20 workers came in.
When RNZ asked if she was the company’s operations manager, she said she did not answer directly and said: “I am responsible for (the) complaint at this stage”.
RNZ has also seen a contract between Prolink NZ Ltd and one of its customers, signed “Shirley Luo” on behalf of Prolink NZ Ltd.