A recruitment firm in Auckland, New Zealand and its director has been fined, after a Chilean couple seeking work in the horticulture industry were found working illegally at a construction site, reports Radio New Zealand. Apex Recruitment and its director Georgia Carolan-Hyland were sentenced in Auckland District Court after Immigration New Zealand visited the site last April. The court heard the workers only had supplementary seasonal employment visas, which limited them to work in the horticulture or viticulture industry, with government-approved employers. Instead, Apex Recruitment found them work in the civil construction industry, and the couple worked for about two months in breach of their visa conditions. During that time, they were paid in cash. In August 2021, Apex Recruitment pleaded guilty to two charges under the Immigration Act, and Carolan-Hyland also pleaded to two charges as a party to the offense. Carolan-Hyland's counsel Paul Wicks said she had just wanted to help, because the workers had struggled to find horticulture jobs. Judge Belinda Pidwell said, "I accept your explanation that there was an altruistic motive to this. But you cannot escape from the fact there was a benefit to you and the company.” The firm was fined NZD 3,600 (USD 2,481), and Carolan-Hyland was fined NZD 1,500 (USD 1,034).