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Chinese millionaire concealed second identity from Immigration New Zealand
A rich Chinese businessman has pleaded not guilty to providing false information when applying for citizenship in New Zealand. William Yan, who is also known as Yong Ming Yan and Yang Lui, failed to tell immigration authorities about his other identities when presenting papers in 2001 and 2002.
Yesterday, the High Court in Auckland heard how the millionaire was granted citizenship under the name Yang Liu in 2008, but then changed his name to William Yan days later. According to the prosecution, he went to great lengths to conceal his second identity from authorities.
Mr Yan failed to reveal his other names, one taken after marriage and another given to him by a foster family when he was a boy. He also said he had not been the subject of any legal investigation or action, despite having previously been under investigation in Australia.
However, the defence claims that Yan was unaware of any errors on the immigration forms as he had his staff fill them out for him. Mr Yan’s lawyer pointed out that his client is “a very wealthy man”, and said he would be using the rules Chinese immigration system as part of his defence.
The defence claims that the prosecution’s case is based on a presumed motive that Yan used a different name because the Communist Party in China was seeking to bring charges against him for his pro-democracy stance. However, the prosecution claims that the motive is not an issue and that they are only interested in how much Yan knew about the errors on his form.
Yesterday, the High Court in Auckland heard how the millionaire was granted citizenship under the name Yang Liu in 2008, but then changed his name to William Yan days later. According to the prosecution, he went to great lengths to conceal his second identity from authorities.
Mr Yan failed to reveal his other names, one taken after marriage and another given to him by a foster family when he was a boy. He also said he had not been the subject of any legal investigation or action, despite having previously been under investigation in Australia.
However, the defence claims that Yan was unaware of any errors on the immigration forms as he had his staff fill them out for him. Mr Yan’s lawyer pointed out that his client is “a very wealthy man”, and said he would be using the rules Chinese immigration system as part of his defence.
The defence claims that the prosecution’s case is based on a presumed motive that Yan used a different name because the Communist Party in China was seeking to bring charges against him for his pro-democracy stance. However, the prosecution claims that the motive is not an issue and that they are only interested in how much Yan knew about the errors on his form.
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