According to a media report, a 41-year-old man of Indian descent has been fined 20,000 Canadian dollars (USD 14,484) for committing immigration fraud by falsifying paperwork to assist newcomers in obtaining work permits in the Canadian province of Manitoba.
According to CBC News on Monday, Avtar Singh Sohi, a father of two who has been residing in Canada since 2006, entered a guilty plea to deception under the Canada Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
On Monday, the Manitoba Provincial Court heard Sohi’s allegation that an Indian lady, who entered Canada under a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA), was employed as a nanny by him when, in fact, she wasn’t.
According to the article, LMIAs are only granted when there is a clear need for a temporary foreign worker and no citizen or permanent resident can fill the position.
The woman was working illegally elsewhere, according to the prosecution in the case, but Avtar gave her pay stubs that proved she was employed by him from March 2019 to July 2021.
He also gave her several signed documents, which she used in her application for permanent residence. According to the newspaper, federal crown attorney Matt Sinclair said, ‘Avtar committed fraud by creating documents to undermine the immigration system.’
The judge approved the 20,000 Canadian dollar fine that the crown and defence had agreed upon for Sohi. The report stated that the court was informed that the maximum punishment for this violation is a fine of $50,000 Canadian and/or two years in jail.
‘His behaviour erodes the trust of our immigration system and must be denounced and deterred,’ Sinclair said.
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