Hastings District Court has heard that $270,000 worth of  false invoices were made out to a company to pay illegal horticultural workers in a single month in 2006.

Last week, four  Hawke's Bay men pleaded guilty to conspiring to assist overstayers and ship-jumpers to live and work illegally in New Zealand.

Three of them are directors of Contract Labour Services which supplied horticultural workers throughout New Zealand.

The court was told the company paid the illegal workers in cash, minus an amount equivalent to tax, which the four accused then pocketed.

The directors took  thousands of dollars which should have been paid to Inland Revenue

Michael Porter, Miles Elliot, Dharminder Singh and Surjit Singh face sentencing in July.