Canada Immigration Fraud: Accused Brijesh Mishra Appears In Court
Brijesh has been sent Subpoena/Summons. It has been received at the Detention Centre where he is still being held,” said a lawyer, familiar with the matter.
Mishra will be cross examined by Indian-origin lawyer Sumit Sen, Managing Partner, SEN LAW. Sen will be representing one of the Indian students, impacted by the deportation hearings, Karamjit Kaur.
As per the Canadian time, Mishra will appear in the hearing at 12:30 PM which would be 9:30 PM Indian Standard Time (IST).
Mishra currently faces five charges from the CBSA under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. The charges are:
1. IRPA Section 91(1) Unauthorised Representation or Advice for Consideration – one count.
2. IRPA Section 126 Counselling Misrepresentation – one count.
3. IRPA Section 127(a) Misrepresentation (Direct or Indirect Misrepresentation) – one count.
4. IRPA Section 127(b) Misrepresentation (Communicating False Information) – one count.
5. IRPA Section 124(1)(a) Non-Compliance with the Act – one count.
Mishra was arrested on June 14 by the Canadian authorities, when he tried to re-enter the North American country through a land border with the United States.
Why is Brijesh Mishra in the dock?
The alleged fraudster, who worked for Education Migration Services in Jalandhar, has been accused of signing fake admission letters of hundreds of Indians headed towards Canada between 2017-2020 while charging lakhs from them.
The students, most of whom are from different parts of Punjab, have alleged that Mishra and many other education consultants promised them admission to top Canadian colleges only to ask them to take admission to lesser-known, tier 2-3 institutions once they reached the country.
Though the former students gained their work permits, they were denied from going through with the permanent residency (PR) process as their admission letters, signed by Mishra, were found to be fake.
Canadian govt to analyse applications on ‘case-by-case’ basis
To scrutinise the former students’ applications, on a case-to-case basis, senior officials from Immigration Refugees Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and CBSA created a task force on June 14, 2023. All pending removals were halted in the interim with temporary permission for the individuals to stay throughout this consideration period, according to an announcement by Canadian Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Sean Fraser.
“Innocent students who are the victims of fraud would be given a chance to prove that they were taken advantage of,” said Fraser, who added that the Canadian government will provide an appropriate remedy for them, during the press conference on June 14.