“Reparations awarded to Migrant workers in $335k conviction”

Ratha Ny, the owner and director of R.S.X Limited (trading as the Bakehouse Café in Murupara), pleaded guilty and was convicted in March 2025 for 4 charges under the Immigration Act 2009 for providing false or misleading information to Immigration New Zealand.

His company, R.S.X Limited, also pleaded guilty and was convicted of 6 exploitation charges for serious breaches of employment law, including knowingly underpaying employees below the minimum wage and failing to correctly pay holiday and related entitlements.

On 14 August 2025, R.S.X Limited and its director appeared for sentencing in the Rotorua District Court. The court fined R.S.X Limited $150,000 for the 6 exploitation charges and ordered the company to pay $25,000 in emotional harm reparations — $10,000 each to 2 victims and $5,000 to a third. These reparations were paid by Mr Ny in anticipation of sentencing and were not court-imposed. This brought the total court-imposed penalty to $175,000.

These penalties are in addition to $160,000 in minimum wage arrears that R.S.X Limited had already repaid to the affected workers prior to sentencing, through an agreement between Mr Ny’s counsel and MBIE Legal. Altogether, the financial consequences for R.S.X Limited, including fines, reparations, and minimum wage arrears, amounted to $335,000…