Thi Lam Sa Van, a Vietnamese worker, took out a 12-month bank loan of 521,762,715 Vietnamese dong ($35,000) to secure a job with New Zealand company Voda Limited, hoping to earn money to support her family back home. However, the reality has fallen far short of her expectations, Stuff reported.
Despite being promised a full-time construction worker position at $29.66 per hour, Van’s pay and hours never matched the agreement. This forced her to borrow from loan sharks in Vietnam to extend the loan, with her family home listed as collateral.
Van is now unemployed, struggling to pay off crippling 20% interest rates, and her family in Vietnam, including her two children and mother, is at risk. Speaking through a translator, Van tearfully described how the ordeal has impacted her family’s life.
“My family in Vietnam is very worried. I don’t even want to call them because I don’t want them to stress about the money,” Van said. “I miss my children very much. But if I call, I know my family will ask about the money, because they’re under pressure too. I have to pay every month on time and if not, they can get in big trouble," she told Stuff.
The initial 12-month bank loan was due by April 17. Van borrowed from the black market in Vietnam to extend it for another year, hoping to find work to repay it. After her plight was reported by Stuff, a complaint was made to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), and Van was granted a New Zealand Work Visa, allowing her to work for any employer in any occupation until December 14.
However, Van remains unemployed and continues to face mounting financial pressures. “I have to pay $1150 a month to the black market in interest payments for four months and $1200 every three months to the bank,” Van said. “I have to borrow from everyone, from friends to cousins, to make those payments because it’s dangerous if I don’t. They can send someone to the house where my family lives, and I am very worried about my children. I don’t know what they’ll do with my children.”
In addition to the interest payments, Van also sends money to ensure her children have enough food and can attend school. Her friend and translator, Huong Nguyen, described Van as someone whose “soul had been sucked out” due to the immense pressure she faces.
Nguyen said Van had experience as a cleaner and in horticulture and just wants to work to pay off her debts. “She feels so tired. This is always on her mind and sometimes, although she is physically here, her mind is in the clouds. It’s like speaking to someone with no soul.”
Nguyen, who is also from Vietnam, understands the pressure Van is under. “I know what will happen if she doesn’t pay the money on time. The first time, they’ll talk to you or your family back home. The second time, you don’t know what they will do.”
Harry Birbaum, Van’s advocate and Nguyen’s partner, filed the complaint to MBIE on Van’s behalf and expressed concern about the progress of the investigation into Voda Limited, as he hasn’t heard anything since April.
“If no one helps her and she leaves in December, she will go back to nothing. There will be nothing. She will be on the road. Her whole family will sit on the road. Her kids will sit on the road,” Birbaum said.
Stuff’s questions to Scott Liu from Voda Limited went unanswered, despite previous claims that the company had paid Van according to the employment agreement. Liu did not provide payslips or details confirming Van’s work hours and rate, nor did he respond to queries about the construction sites she worked on.
Jason Perry, MBIE national manager investigations, stated that providing further details on the case could compromise any ongoing or future investigations. According to the INZ database, Voda Limited remains an accredited employer, with accreditation expiring on March 15, 2025, and Shu Hui listed as the sole director.
In the meantime, Van continues to desperately search for employment. “All the people who come here just want to work, pay tax, and earn money to bring back to their families,” she said.
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