Edmonton: À resident of Ontario has been charged for charging for immigration services without legal authorisation.
The suspect, Maneet ‘Mani’ Malhotra, had been handed an 18-month conditional sentence, including six months of house arrest, and was ordered to pay $148,000 in victim restitution.
On April 8, he pleaded guilty to the charge under section 91 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) in an Edmonton courtroom.
According to Canada Border Service Agency (CBSA), it began its investigation into Malhotra and her Edmonton-based business, NAMI Immigration Inc., in 2019 after a referral from the Government of Alberta’s Temporary Foreign Worker Advisory Office.
“It was determined that two clients paid Malhotra $30,000 and $45,000 to arrange employment in Alberta. Instead of receiving jobs, they were forced into a scheme where they were required to pay for fraudulent pay stubs,” the CBSA said.
“During the investigation, the CBSA discovered more incidents where Malhotra charged for immigration services that included fake job offers and forged documents. In addition, Malhotra did not submit the required official paperwork to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). It was determined that Malhotra did not meet the requirements of IRPA to provide immigration-related services as she was not a registered immigration consultant or a practicing lawyer,” the CBSA said in its statement.
On December 17, 2019, the CBSA executed a search warrant at the offices of NAMI Immigration and found fraudulent immigration-related documents as well as additional client information.
“On April 21, 2023, charges were laid against Malhotra and on May 1, 2023, the CBSA arrested Malhotra at her residence in Mississauga, Ontario,” the border agency said.