Wellington, June 19 NZPA - Hundreds of overstayers, most of them Samoan, are continuing to pay $500 for bogus residence visas despite the scam being uncovered.

It is being run by Gerard Otimi, a Maori who tells them the visas make them adopted members of his hapu with the right to live in New Zealand.

Mr Otimi has acknowledged his visas have no standing with immigration authorities, but he was reported today to still be doing a roaring trade in Auckland.

TV One news showed a hall packed with people who had come to collect their passports, stamped with the visas, and a certificate confirming their "adoption".

It said 90 passports were handed over -- $45,000 for Mr Otimi, who said "the money is in the bank".

And it might not be just money the overstayers are losing.

TV One reported Samoan authorities were considering whether a fake visa stamp in a passport rendered it invalid.

Government ministers have described the scam as "disgusting" and "deplorable" and urged victims to go to the police.

The police have launched an investigation but so far no complaints have been laid.

The overstayers fear being sent home if they approach the authorities, and many of them appear to believe Mr Otimi's visas really do mean they can legally stay in New Zealand.

Interviewed yesterday, Mr Otimi said his documents "notarise them, and the Immigration Department, to say they are now under our care".

One Samoan man confirmed he had paid $500 to join Mr Otimi's hapu.

"It's because these people came to remove us so we asked for help and then called Gerard Otimi," he said.

The police said they were trying to find out whether any laws had been broken, but the investigation is hindered by no one coming forward with a complaint.

Immigration Minister Jonathan Coleman indicated tonight the estimated 16,000 overstayers were not a priority for the department.

"Overstaying is a problem but if you look at it across the board it affects less than 1 percent, it's 0.8 percent, of migrants," he said.

"Proportionately it's a small problem."