NZ immigration officer admits bribes

A NEW Zealand border control officer has admitted taking tens of thousands of dollars in bribes to help people get into the country.
MENG Yam Lim and an associate, Kooi Leng Pan, each pleaded guilty to four charges of corruption in the Auckland District Court on Wednesday, following a Serious Fraud Office investigation.
The SFO alleged Lim, a former Immigration New Zealand official, had colluded with Pan to accept $NZ26,500 ($A23,600) from two people in exchange for helping them with their immigration process in 2013. SFO director Julie Read said cases of bribery were harmful to New Zealand's international reputation. "The rules, whether they are about immigration or anything else, are intended to apply to everyone equally. Circumvention of the rules undermines any fairness in society," she said. Lim, 64, was originally from Singapore and had been in New Zealand for about 40 years. He worked as an Auckland International Airport border immigration officer from 2008 where his job included interviewing passengers and gathering information to assess whether a person met the entry requirements. Lim and Pan will be sentenced on September 10.