From 2006 to 2009, Qi Zhou was the principal, owner and proprietor of Hong Yun International Pty Ltd (‘HYI’). HYI was a business that was advertised and promoted as a professional migration, legal and financial services agency, offering overseas students from China, a range of visa options that would enable them to get other temporary visas or permanent residency to stay in Australia.
Between 2008 and 2009, the Australian Federal Police and the Commonwealth Department of Immigration and Citizenship undertook a joint investigation. They concluded that a number of people were engaged in a series of ‘migration fraud’ offences operating primarily under HYI.
Activities included acting as Registered Migration Agents and collecting fees from vulnerable clients. There was also a large scale production of false documents, and the submission of these to government agencies. Then there was the creation of contrived marriages and de facto relationships, all to defaud the DIBP and for Australian immigration purposes.
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