Donald Bruce Chilcott yesterday pleaded guilty in the Dunedin District Court to an admitted 13 indictably-laid charges under the Passport Act: 11 of knowingly using a false passport, and two of making false representations to the Department of Internal Affairs.
The charges related to his use of another Dunedin man's identification to apply for a passport in the name of Donald Edward McRobie; multiple subsequent trips to the US, Sydney and one to Tahiti using the passport; and the renewal of the passport in 2010.
Chilcott was found out in June, when fingerprinting by US entry border officials in Los Angeles revealed he was not Donald Edward McRobie, as his passport stated. Chilcott was deported to Auckland, his departure point from New Zealand.
The police summary of facts said they did not know to what extent he used the falsely-obtained New Zealand passport overseas or for what purpose.
Chilcott told the Otago Daily Times he had been flying to and from the US since 1975.
The trips were to source stock for his Auckland-based import business, and gradually grew into longer stays abroad, until he was regularly overstaying in the US - once for up to two years.
Although technically an alien, he was "amazed" when he was able to borrow money from a bank to buy property in Fontana, California, including two houses.
He even had a sheetmetal business, with people working for him, he said.
He never applied for a green card because he thought he would not need one as he could manage on short visits.
Officials warned him about overstaying, but had not stopped him until after a work visit to Canada in the late 1990s, when he was detained at the US border, identified as an overstayer, fingerprinted and denied entry, he said.
He later left for New Zealand from Vancouver.
It was then he took what he described as a "desperate" measure, so he could keep his business going.
"I knew I'd never get back in [to the US], so I found someone who I paid $500 for a birth certificate and that's how I got it [the passport].
"It was desperation. I could not think of another way of [getting back to the US].
"I didn't get it to do anything crooked."
He believed the Dunedin person who sold him the birth certificate must have known Mr McRobie and had the impression Mr McRobie was aware of the arrangement, but now was not sure if that was true, Chilcott said.
"Until I was caught, I never thought there was anything majorly wrong with what I was doing. It wasn't causing any harm."
When contacted yesterday, Mr McRobie (77) said he did not want to make any comments on any of the allegations, or the case.
A relative said Mr McRobie was "terribly upset" when he found out in June someone had been using his identity.
Chilcott said he accepted what he had done was serious.
"Except that we never thought of it as being serious. I never even realised how serious it was until I got off the plane at Auckland and the police said it was very, very serious. I never, ever thought about it."
Chilcott, who retired about four years ago, said his visit to the US in June had been his last, "to clean up".
He questioned various systems, saying he travelled "dozens" of times to the US in the 11 years he had the unlawful passport, and was fingerprinted many times, without being picked up.
He had also used his own legal passport many times to travel to other countries during those years.
Chilcott was convicted by Judge Stephen O'Driscoll, and remanded on bail for sentence on September 22.
The court was told Chilcott took the identity of Mr McRobie, who was born in Gore in 1934 and who Chilcott knew did not have a passport and was unlikely to travel.
Chilcott then used the false passport about 36 times between 2000 and late 2009 for travel between Auckland and Los Angeles.
The passport was due to expire on June 6, 2010 and Chilcott again provided Mr McRobie's details to apply for another. The Department of Internal Affairs issued the new passport on November 30, 2009 and Chilcott used it three times last year and once last month before he was caught at the US border.
Counsel John Westgate said there was no suggestion Chilcott had used the passport for anything other than travelling to and from the US, so he could keep his business going. He had inadvertently overstayed, was not allowed back, so obtained false documentation to get another passport.
• Using a false passport carries a maximum sentence of 10 years' jail, making false representations to obtain a passport, five years.
