A Christchurch restaurant owner has been sentenced to six months’ home detention and fined a total of $30,000 for serious breaches of both food safety and immigration laws.
Xinchen Liu, owner of Samurai Bowl on Colombo Street and sole director of Samurai Bowl Ltd, was sentenced in the Christchurch District Court on Tuesday, after pleading guilty to two separate sets of charges—one under the Food Act and another under the Immigration Act.
In the first case, Liu admitted to selling food that had been subject to a recall due to unsafe levels of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) bacteria. The bacteria can cause nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps and diarrhoea, with more serious consequences for those with weakened immune systems.
“Food recalls are conducted to protect consumers from potential harm,” said Jenny Bishop, acting deputy director-general of New Zealand Food Safety. “People rightly expect food businesses sell food that is safe and suitable.”
The issue was first flagged in 2019 when routine testing by a verifier found unsafe levels of the bacteria in frozen ramen meals. A recall was issued on 1 June 2019 for all frozen Samurai Bowl ramen meals produced since Liu took over the business.
Liu initially confirmed the recall had been carried out, supplying photographs to support the claim. However, a later investigation revealed she had instead kept the meals in freezers. Some were defrosted and given to staff, and miso soup and meat from recalled meals were later served to customers at the restaurant.
“This was deliberate and reckless behaviour,” said Bishop. “Liu’s actions had the potential to cause sickness and a serious health risk for a number of customers.”
In a separate investigation, Liu was found to have knowingly supplied false and misleading information to immigration officers.
According to Immigration New Zealand’s National Manager of Investigations Jason Perry, Liu told immigration officers during a 2021 visit that a migrant worker at the Colombo Street premises was not employed by her. However, officers simultaneously visited Liu’s other restaurant in Papanui, where they found the same person working as a chef.
Further checks revealed the worker had been rostered to work daily over the course of a week, and Liu had supplied the roster. Liu also falsely claimed the worker had a valid visa and was only volunteering part-time. In reality, the person had been working between 37 and 78 hours per week for nearly a year.
Liu also pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting three employees to work in breach of their visa conditions. One of the three later left the country, while the remaining two are now on valid visas and working with Immigration New Zealand to stay compliant.
“Today’s sentence sends a strong message that breaching immigration law and knowingly supplying false or misleading information to Immigration officials will not be tolerated,” said Perry.
