Wellington  - The former head of New Zealand's Immigration service, Mary Anne Thompson, 54, was committed for trial on fraud charges Thursday at the Wellington District Court.

Thompson faces three charges of falsely claiming in her curriculum vitae that she had graduated as a doctor of philosophy from the London School of Economics when applying for jobs in the New Zealand public service in 1989, 1998 and 2004.

She denied the charges, but her attorney conceded there was a case to answer when she appeared at a pretrial hearing. She was remanded until December 1.

Thompson headed the immigration service within the Department of Labour from 2004 until resigning in May 2008 after a State Services Commission report found that she had helped members of her family from the Pacific island nation of Kiribati obtain residence permits in New Zealand.

The department's chief executive, Christopher Blake, said then that the behaviour described in the report was "completely unacceptable" and announced her resignation.

Thompson worked in the prime minister's department before heading the immigration service. (dpa)