Canada

The Fifth Estate

Agent can be accused of dishonest his purchasers out of tens of hundreds of {dollars}

Posted: 59 Minutes Ago

Indian authorities have arrested a journey agent accused of forging the scholar visa paperwork of dozens of worldwide college students who’re at the moment going through removing orders from Canada as a result of misrepresentation of their purposes.

A spokesperson for the Police Commissionerate at Jalandhar, Punjab, confirmed with The Fifth Estate that Rahul Bhargava, of the agency Education and Migration Services, was arrested and that they’re nonetheless searching for his companions, Brijesh Mishra and Gurnam Singh. They face a number of prices beneath India’s prison, penal and administrative codes.

The Fifth Estate obtained three FIRs (First Information Reports) from the Police Commissionerate that have been registered after a number of complaints from the mother and father of the scholars.

One of the mother and father, Baldev Raj from Nakodar, Jalandhar, advised The Fifth Estate that along with getting ready a faux acceptance letter from Sheridan College with out their information, the agent, Brijesh Mishra, cheated him out of $14,000, which was imagined to cowl two semesters of tuition on the Ontario school for his daughter.

He mentioned when his daughter reached Canada, Mishra advised her to not go to Sheridan till additional discover. They waited for 2 weeks, however there was no response from Mishra, and after they tried to contact him, he by no means returned their calls.

When Raj inquired about his daughter’s registration at Sheridan College in Brampton, Ont., with the assistance of his buddy in Canada, he realized that his daughter was by no means registered there. He later discovered that Mishra had by no means made any funds to the school and had saved the entire quantity.

“Mishra defrauded me and my daughter,” Raj mentioned. “Not only did he rip us off, but the future of my daughter is in dark because of him.”

Raj mentioned his daughter later enrolled in Cambrian at Hanson, a Toronto faculty linked to Cambrian College, and he paid one other $14,000 for her tuition, however he by no means acquired a refund from the agent for the Sheridan College tuition.

His daughter is now going through a removing order issued by the Canada Border Services Agency as a result of the usage of a faux letter of acceptance in her preliminary scholar visa software.

‘We are victims, not culprits’

Mishra has been accused of duping dozens of worldwide college students who are actually going through removing orders from Canada.

The college students protested exterior the Immigration and Refugee Board in Toronto on Thursday to combat to stay in Canada, holding indicators that learn, “Stop Victim Blaming,” “We are Victims of Fraud,” “We are Victims, not Culprits,” “Unite Against Deportation” and “Wake Up Canadian Government.”

Among the college students who have been protesting, Ranbir Singh from Gurdaspur, Punjab, advised The Fifth Estate that Mishra additionally cheated him out of $14,000, the quantity that ought to have gone towards his first-year tuition at Algonquin College of Applied Arts and Technology in Ottawa.

Singh mentioned that following his arrival in Canada in September 2018, Mishra knowledgeable him that the school was full for the semester and that he wouldn’t be capable of pursue his research there.

He mentioned he personally went to Algonquin to inquire about his admission, however the school could not confirm his registration.

Singh mentioned he additionally confirmed his letter of acceptance to a employees member on the entrance desk, however they could not work out that it was a faux letter at the moment and as a substitute suggested him to talk to his agent.

“I questioned and argued, but instead of informing me about the fraudulent document, they advised me to go back to the same person who perpetrated this fraud,” he mentioned.

Singh then enrolled at Mohawk College of Applied Arts and Technology in Hamilton and paid one other $14,000 for the primary yr of his schooling. But he mentioned he did not obtain any refund from the agent for his cost to Algonquin College, and Mishra stopped answering his telephone calls.

The deputy commissioner of Jalandhar, Punjab, cancelled the licence for Mishra’s agency, Education and Migration Services, on March 21, alleging the corporate was concerned in prison exercise.

The case is at the moment being investigated by the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit of the Jalandhar Police Commissionerate.

Meanwhile, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) confirmed that there are a variety of lively Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) investigations into instances of misrepresentation, together with these associated to review permits.

“Persons who misrepresent themselves and/or use fraudulent documentation to seek entry to Canada or to remain in Canada are contravening IRPA and risk being removed from Canada,” the CBSA mentioned in a press release.

“The CBSA is responsible for investigating allegations of violations of the Customs Act and the IRPA, focusing on complex cases involving organized fraudulent activity, or a history of non-compliance, and primarily targeting the organizers, facilitators and perpetrators of the crimes and who pose a threat to the integrity of Canada’s border legislation.”