He kept their passports, bank cards and wages, assaulted them and threatened both with deportation if they spoke out. The young male victim dreamt of finishing school, before he was put to work for 50 to 60 hours a week. When the woman raised the alarm four years later that Tuai had raped her, police also discovered the slavery both had suffered at Tuai’s hands. Ownership, possession, control, threatsTuai did not allow the victims to talk to each other, even when they were eating at the same table. So too was Joseph Matamata, who in 2020 became the first New Zealander convicted of both slavery and human trafficking.

Source: New Zealand Herald January 11, 2026 20:32 UTC