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But the dream has turned into a nightmare. Despite the offer of employment saying Van was hired as a full-time construction worker to be paid $29.66 per hour, Van’s pay and hours never came close to the amounts promised.

With barely any income, Van borrowed money from loan sharks in Vietnam to extend the bank loan ‒ a desperate bid to save her family home which had been listed as collateral.

The loan has been extended for another year, but Van is now unemployed and struggling to pay off crippling 20% interest rates, putting the lives of her two children and mother in Vietnam at risk.

Speaking to Stuff through a translator, Van was in tears as she shared how the entire ordeal had affected her family’s life...

Harry Birbaum, Van’s advocate and [Van's friend, Huong] Nguyen’s partner, filed the complaint to MBIE on Van’s behalf.

He said he was concerned about how the investigation into Voda Limited was progressing, as he hadn’t heard anything since April when he filed the complaint.

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