Born in Bangladesh, Mahbub, an accountant, came to New Zealand in 2007. He worked for a recruitment company before setting up his own business, Talegeo, which later went into receivership.
Spencer was in a business partnership with Mahbub, operating the UK side of its operations as a contractor.
Speaking to the Herald after learning of his imprisonment, Liverpool-based Spencer spoke of the financial pain the business partnership had left her with, as well as her horror of Mahbub’s offending.
“When I read the Herald, I kept thinking, ‘How could I have been associated with someone who would do that to other women?’ she said.
“Was anything he said to me true? Or was he also abusing his position of power? That man needs to take accountability.”
When they first met in 2017, Spencer – now aged 32 – was working at recruitment firm Stirling Andersen.
Spencer knew him as “Shaf Asif”. She specialised in legal recruitment; Mahbub specialised in accountancy.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Spencer became pregnant and later separated from her partner. After her baby was born, Mahbub approached her about working for him as a consultant at his company.
She agreed, based on their previous working relationship.
In 2020, after the birth of her daughter, Spencer felt financially vulnerable and moved to Liverpool to live with her parents.
She continued working in recruitment from the UK, fitting her hours around caring for her daughter. She would often work late into the night while her daughter slept, enabling her to continue recruiting for the New Zealand market.
At the time, Mahbub was the director of the New Zealand-based business Talegeo, while Spencer operated its UK business as a contractor.
Under their agreement, she worked on a consultancy basis and received 85% of the recruitment fees she generated, with the remaining 15% retained by Talegeo.
According to Spencer, Mahbub handled the invoicing and administration, and she was paid on the 20th of each month.
But she claimed payments from Mahbub began to slow around March 2023; at one point, she alleged he owed her around $75,000.
He eventually repaid about $60,000, but about $13,000 remained outstanding.
Spencer claimed Mahbub knew about her personal circumstances.
In messages between the pair obtained by the Herald, he acknowledged she worked hard to earn the money to care for her daughter and their future.
After the payments stopped, Spencer repeatedly chased Mahbub over the outstanding debt and eventually engaged a New Zealand barrister.
Then, when his company, Talegeo, went into receivership, she also contacted the receiver.
In a text sent to Mahbub on January 27, 2023, Spencer wrote: “I suggest the money is paid in full in the next seven days or I will issue legal proceedings”.
Mahbub responded: “Look, I will lose 100s of thousands out of it, but you won’t. I am making sure all legal fees are away from everyone, so you have it. Or if you issue proceedings, I will just have to liquidate. Get advice, Sarah.”
Spencer said her main concern was simply recovering the money she had earned – she had no involvement in Talegeo’s financial management, its accounts or decisions about where its funds were held.
She said Mahbub did everything possible to delay paying her.
In one text, Mahbub wrote: “The absolute doom-and-gloom situation of this whole scenario is if Talegeo doesn’t survive, [person’s name redacted] still pays you a personal gift.”
Several texts showed him apologising for the position Spencer was in.
Frustrated by Mahbub’s excuses, she contacted his wife.
Those messages were ignored, she alleged.
When approached by the Herald, Mahbub’s wife said: “It’s nothing to do with me,” and declined to comment further.
Eventually, she stopped pursuing the $13,000 she believed Mahbub still owed her, convinced he was struggling financially.
Spencer told the Herald she didn’t want to live with the consequences that chasing the debt could have had for Mahbub or his young family.
Eventually, she walked away, deciding the emotional stress of pursuing the money was not worth it.
Joon Yi, the criminal lawyer who represented Mahbub during the trial over the sex recordings, told the Herald he hadn’t been instructed by Mahbub to comment on Spencer’s allegations, which he said was a civil matter.
The Department of Corrections also declined a request from the Herald for an interview with Mahbub over Spencer’s allegations.
A spokesperson said Regulation 108 of the Corrections Regulations prohibits a person from interviewing a prisoner for the purpose of obtaining information for publication or broadcast without first obtaining the approval of the chief executive of the Department of Corrections.
“That approval was not granted in this case.”
Judge: Mahbub’s ‘callous disregard for victims’
Sex workers who were secretly filmed having sex with Mahbub later described him as being a “pathetic little man” who had ruined their lives.
In her sentencing, Judge Debra Bell said that over a period of four years, Mahbub met with 14 women and covertly recorded sexual activity using a pre-concealed device and then uploaded the recordings on various websites.
He earned $3521.19 from uploading those recordings on one of the sites between August 2023 and March 31, 2024.
Judge Bell noted the psychological harm to the victims has been extensive, with many now living in fear about who may have seen the videos and who could view them in the future. They have little control over whether the footage can be removed.
“Your conduct reflects a striking absence of empathy and a callous disregard for the wellbeing of the victims who have been affected by your actions; hopefully they can start to move on,” Judge Bell said.
In a probation report, Mahbub said he was in an open marriage and that his wife had consented to him having sexual encounters outside the marriage.
Speaking to the Herald, Spencer said she was horrified to think she had gone into business with someone who would later commit such a horrific crime.
It was discovering that Mahbub had filmed sex workers without their knowledge or consent that motivated Spencer to speak publicly.
Looking back, she believes she gave far more consideration to Mahbub and his circumstances than she did to herself and her daughter.
“I have felt disgusted and hurt, but strangely, there has also been a feeling of being seen,” she said.
“For me, coming forward now isn’t about recovering the money. I stopped expecting to see that money a long time ago.
“It’s about being truthful about my experience and believing that people like Shaf should ultimately be accountable for the way they treat others.”
Carolyne Meng-Yee is an Auckland-based investigative journalist who won Best Documentary at the Voyager Media Awards and this year was a finalist for Best Current Affairs. She worked for the Herald on Sunday from 2007 to 2011 and rejoined the Herald in 2016 after working as an award-winning current affairs producer at TVNZ’s 60 Minutes, 20/20 and Sunday.
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