This lengthy trial has come to an end, sentencing to follow. She was found guilty on 15 counts. See report below:
Ex immigration dept. manager convicted of fraud - Crime - Canoe.ca
Showing posts with label Canada immigration bribery trial. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Canada immigration bribery trial. Show all posts
Friday, June 22, 2012
Friday, February 3, 2012
TRIAL OF IMMIGRATION OFFICER CONTINUES, RCMP TESTIFES
This is an unusual and fascinating case as reported by teh Ottawa Citizen:
Mountie watched immigration fixer and bureaucrat whisper together inside store
By Matthew Pearson, The Ottawa Citizen
February 2, 2012
OTTAWA — An undercover RCMP officer spotted a senior bureaucrat whispering to an immigration fixer inside a home supply store weeks before the pair’s cash-for-status scheme was broken up by police, an Ottawa court heard Thursday.
Andre-Luc Bisson testified that he participated in four surveillance operations during the summer and fall of 2004 as part of “Project Argon,” before the arrests of Diane Serre and Issam Dakik in December that year.
Serre and Dakik are accused of teaming up to take money from mostly Arab immigrants in exchange for speeding up their immigration applications.
The Crown alleges Dakik would meet applicants and collect the cash before contacting Serre, who would use her influence as a supervisor at the Catherine Street Citizenship and Immigration Canada office to pull the necessary strings.
Serre, 41, has pleaded not guilty to 28 charges, including multiple allegations of fraud against the government and breach of trust of a public official. She is also charged with one count of bribery.
Dakik has already pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison.
Testifying via video link from Brussels — where’s he on education leave, Bisson told the court he and two other officers were told by colleagues assigned to monitor Serre and Dakik’s telephone lines that the pair planned to meet at a Bank Street store on the afternoon of Oct. 17, 2004.
Bisson entered the store and immediately found Dakik, who he had seen in pictures and during at least one previous stakeout. Serre arrived about 10 minutes later, passed by Dakik without acknowledging him and walked down an aisle featuring tools, Bisson told the court.
Dakik followed, Bisson said, adding he also entered the aisle and tried to listen in on their conversation, but couldn’t make out much because the pair were whispering.
Bisson returned to the aisle two more times, once with a female officer who he pretended to be shopping with.
When Dakik and Serre were later brought into RCMP custody, Bisson collected their fingerprints.
The court also heard from Elda Paliga, an Ottawa-based immigration consultant hired by a family who had previously paid Dakik $4,500 cash to obtain work permits.
Paliga, who’s run her own consulting firm for nearly 15 years and previously worked for the immigration department, told the court she became suspicious when she realized two of the men asking for her assistance to renew their work permits weren’t eligible for such permits in the first place.
Paliga said she became even more concerned when — after hand-delivering a letter to the immigration department’s Ottawa office requesting that a correction be made to the mens’ status — the family received a call from an “agitated” Dakik.
Dakik appeared to know about the confidential letter, even though it was addressed to a senior manager. He told the family it was “causing problems” for him and that he hadn’t done anything wrong, Paliga testified.
The trial continues.
Mountie watched immigration fixer and bureaucrat whisper together inside store
By Matthew Pearson, The Ottawa Citizen
February 2, 2012
OTTAWA — An undercover RCMP officer spotted a senior bureaucrat whispering to an immigration fixer inside a home supply store weeks before the pair’s cash-for-status scheme was broken up by police, an Ottawa court heard Thursday.
Andre-Luc Bisson testified that he participated in four surveillance operations during the summer and fall of 2004 as part of “Project Argon,” before the arrests of Diane Serre and Issam Dakik in December that year.
Serre and Dakik are accused of teaming up to take money from mostly Arab immigrants in exchange for speeding up their immigration applications.
The Crown alleges Dakik would meet applicants and collect the cash before contacting Serre, who would use her influence as a supervisor at the Catherine Street Citizenship and Immigration Canada office to pull the necessary strings.
Serre, 41, has pleaded not guilty to 28 charges, including multiple allegations of fraud against the government and breach of trust of a public official. She is also charged with one count of bribery.
Dakik has already pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison.
Testifying via video link from Brussels — where’s he on education leave, Bisson told the court he and two other officers were told by colleagues assigned to monitor Serre and Dakik’s telephone lines that the pair planned to meet at a Bank Street store on the afternoon of Oct. 17, 2004.
Bisson entered the store and immediately found Dakik, who he had seen in pictures and during at least one previous stakeout. Serre arrived about 10 minutes later, passed by Dakik without acknowledging him and walked down an aisle featuring tools, Bisson told the court.
Dakik followed, Bisson said, adding he also entered the aisle and tried to listen in on their conversation, but couldn’t make out much because the pair were whispering.
Bisson returned to the aisle two more times, once with a female officer who he pretended to be shopping with.
When Dakik and Serre were later brought into RCMP custody, Bisson collected their fingerprints.
The court also heard from Elda Paliga, an Ottawa-based immigration consultant hired by a family who had previously paid Dakik $4,500 cash to obtain work permits.
Paliga, who’s run her own consulting firm for nearly 15 years and previously worked for the immigration department, told the court she became suspicious when she realized two of the men asking for her assistance to renew their work permits weren’t eligible for such permits in the first place.
Paliga said she became even more concerned when — after hand-delivering a letter to the immigration department’s Ottawa office requesting that a correction be made to the mens’ status — the family received a call from an “agitated” Dakik.
Dakik appeared to know about the confidential letter, even though it was addressed to a senior manager. He told the family it was “causing problems” for him and that he hadn’t done anything wrong, Paliga testified.
The trial continues.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
IMMIGRATION CORRUPTION TRIAL CONTINUES IN OTTAWA
More on the immigration corruption trial...the saga continues:
Family details to court $4,500 deal with immigration fixer
OTTAWA — A Syrian family paid an immigration fixer $4,500 in cash to arrange work permits after their application was rejected by Citizenship and Immigration Canada, an Ottawa court heard Wednesday.
The evidence was presented in the trial of a senior bureaucrat accused of using her influence to fast-track applications in exchange for money.
Diane Serre is accused of teaming up with Issam Dakik to take money from mostly Arab immigrants in exchange for speeding up their applications.
The Crown alleges Dakik would meet with the applicants and collect the money before contacting Serre, who would use her influence as a supervisor at the Catherine Street immigration office to pull the necessary strings.
Serre, 41, has pleaded not guilty to 28 charges, including multiple allegations of fraud against the government and breach of trust of a public official. She is also charged with one count of bribery. Dakik has already pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison.
George Zidan told the court Wednesday that he came to Canada from Syria with his parents, two brothers and a sister in 2000. His father had been issued a work permit and the other members of the family were able to join him on visitor visas.
Zidan told the court an application to extend the family’s permits was rejected in November 2002.
The following spring, he met Dakik through family friends and asked for the man’s help.
Dakik took down the family’s file number and other details and soon paid them a visit at their home, which is when he said he could get Zidan and his brother, as well as their father, work permits (the brothers had previously only been able to get work or student visas).
But it would cost them $4,500 — $1,500 upfront and another $3,000 when the family had their permits in hand.
Soon after, Zidan, his brother and father were called down to the Catherine Street office and handed work permits.
Zidan told the court he didn’t ask Dakik how he was able to arrange such a thing and Dakik offered little explanation, nor a receipt for the cash payment.
Dakik later helped the family get an $1,850 refund from the immigration department for fees they paid on the initial application, of which he took a share.
“I got you the refund back and no one could get you the refund, so I want $400 from the cheque,” Zidan recalled the man saying at the time.
The following spring, Zidan said the family started dealing with a new immigration consultant, whom they hired to help them get their permits extended again and apply for permanent residence in Canada.
The consultant became concerned when she learned the brothers had received work permits, which they weren’t eligible for, and wrote the immigration department in June 2004 requesting a correction to the brothers’ status.
Weeks later, Zidan told the court, he had several telephone conversations with Dakik — which were recorded by police and played in court Wednesday.
On the tape, Dakik brings up the letter during one call, which Zidan said the new immigration consultant found “shocking” because it had been sent directly to the manager of the Ottawa office.
Earlier Wednesday, Samia Caron, a Citizenship and Immigration Canada officer who worked with Serre, said under cross examination that her boss gave her the impression in the summer of 2003 that she should overturn her decision in the Zidan case, even if Serre didn’t specifically tell her to do so in as many words.
Caron faced questions about her recollection of events. She had testified on Tuesday that in 2004 Serre had shown her gifts the manager allegedly received from clients. But after revisiting transcripts of two statements Caron made to police in 2005, it seemed as though Caron actually reported seeing the gifts in 2003.
She confessed her memory is not as fresh as it once was. “I feel my original statement to the RCMP was more fresh, so it’s probably the most accurate,” she told the court.
But if she was so concerned about the gifts and whether Serre was allowed to accept them, why she didn’t report the incident to a manager at the time or mention them to police, Defence counsel Natasha Calvinho asked.
“The reason you didn’t go report it, is it’s not something that struck you as overly concerning,” Calvinho suggested.
Caron disagreed, saying the fact Serre told her not to tell anyone about the gifts is evidence enough that accepting gifts was against the rules.
The trial continues.
The evidence was presented in the trial of a senior bureaucrat accused of using her influence to fast-track applications in exchange for money.
Diane Serre is accused of teaming up with Issam Dakik to take money from mostly Arab immigrants in exchange for speeding up their applications.
The Crown alleges Dakik would meet with the applicants and collect the money before contacting Serre, who would use her influence as a supervisor at the Catherine Street immigration office to pull the necessary strings.
Serre, 41, has pleaded not guilty to 28 charges, including multiple allegations of fraud against the government and breach of trust of a public official. She is also charged with one count of bribery. Dakik has already pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison.
George Zidan told the court Wednesday that he came to Canada from Syria with his parents, two brothers and a sister in 2000. His father had been issued a work permit and the other members of the family were able to join him on visitor visas.
Zidan told the court an application to extend the family’s permits was rejected in November 2002.
The following spring, he met Dakik through family friends and asked for the man’s help.
Dakik took down the family’s file number and other details and soon paid them a visit at their home, which is when he said he could get Zidan and his brother, as well as their father, work permits (the brothers had previously only been able to get work or student visas).
But it would cost them $4,500 — $1,500 upfront and another $3,000 when the family had their permits in hand.
Soon after, Zidan, his brother and father were called down to the Catherine Street office and handed work permits.
Zidan told the court he didn’t ask Dakik how he was able to arrange such a thing and Dakik offered little explanation, nor a receipt for the cash payment.
Dakik later helped the family get an $1,850 refund from the immigration department for fees they paid on the initial application, of which he took a share.
“I got you the refund back and no one could get you the refund, so I want $400 from the cheque,” Zidan recalled the man saying at the time.
The following spring, Zidan said the family started dealing with a new immigration consultant, whom they hired to help them get their permits extended again and apply for permanent residence in Canada.
The consultant became concerned when she learned the brothers had received work permits, which they weren’t eligible for, and wrote the immigration department in June 2004 requesting a correction to the brothers’ status.
Weeks later, Zidan told the court, he had several telephone conversations with Dakik — which were recorded by police and played in court Wednesday.
On the tape, Dakik brings up the letter during one call, which Zidan said the new immigration consultant found “shocking” because it had been sent directly to the manager of the Ottawa office.
Earlier Wednesday, Samia Caron, a Citizenship and Immigration Canada officer who worked with Serre, said under cross examination that her boss gave her the impression in the summer of 2003 that she should overturn her decision in the Zidan case, even if Serre didn’t specifically tell her to do so in as many words.
Caron faced questions about her recollection of events. She had testified on Tuesday that in 2004 Serre had shown her gifts the manager allegedly received from clients. But after revisiting transcripts of two statements Caron made to police in 2005, it seemed as though Caron actually reported seeing the gifts in 2003.
She confessed her memory is not as fresh as it once was. “I feel my original statement to the RCMP was more fresh, so it’s probably the most accurate,” she told the court.
But if she was so concerned about the gifts and whether Serre was allowed to accept them, why she didn’t report the incident to a manager at the time or mention them to police, Defence counsel Natasha Calvinho asked.
“The reason you didn’t go report it, is it’s not something that struck you as overly concerning,” Calvinho suggested.
Caron disagreed, saying the fact Serre told her not to tell anyone about the gifts is evidence enough that accepting gifts was against the rules.
The trial continues.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
TRIAL IN ALLEGED IMMIGRATION BRIBERY SCANDAL CONTINUES
This is a story that has been going on for some time, but it is interesting that it is only now coming to trial.
Immigration Canada manager pleads not guilty in bribery scheme
OTTAWA — Secretly recorded telephone calls and undercover police surveillance will paint a portrait of a senior Citizenship and Immigration Canada manager taking cash in exchange for preferential treatment on permanent residency applications, a prosecutor said Monday on the first day of a trial into an alleged bribes-for-status scheme.
Assistant Crown attorney Mike Boyce said Diane Serre teamed up with Issam Dakik to take thousands of dollars from mostly Arab immigrants in exchange for fast-tracking their applications. Dakik would meet with the applicants and collect the money before contacting Serre who would use her influence as a manager and supervisor in Citizenship and Immigration Canada’s Catherine Street office, said Boyce.
Serre, 41, pleaded not guilty to 28 charges Monday, including multiple allegations of fraud against the government and breach of trust of a public official. She is also charged with one count of bribery.
Dakik portrayed himself as someone who had inside information, Boyce added.
Dakik, who has pleaded guilty to his role in the scheme, along with credit card fraud, was sentenced to two years and nine months in prison in 2006. At the time, Dakik admitted he paid Serre a portion of the proceeds of the scheme.
The scheme allegedly began in January 2003 and continued until December 2004, when Serre and Dakik were arrested by RCMP in an operation dubbed “Project Argon.”
Nine applicants made the illegal cash payments, which the RCMP said at the time of Serre’s arrest ranged from between $4,000 and $25,000.
In an opening address, Boyce outlined Crown evidence that will be presented over the six-week trial, including wiretap evidence that the prosecutor said proved that Serre was Dakik’s “insider” at Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
Police surveillance observed visits to Dakik’s home by Serre that corresponded with wiretapped telephone calls to some of the applicants — calls where Dakik would often either put the applicants on hold or could be heard consulting with someone else in the room.
Boyce alleged when an undercover police agent approached Dakik, he was told the first $300 he paid would go to “the lawyer.” Bills with the same serial numbers were recovered two weeks later from Serre’s bedroom, said the prosecution.
Among the allegations is that Serre also handed over sensitive Citizenship and Immigration Canada documents to Dakik and made phone calls to outside government agencies, including CSIS, to see if some of the steps of the application process could be expedited.
Not all of Serre’s actions would be improper when viewed in isolation, said Boyce, but when viewed in the context of Serre’s relationship with Dakik, they equated to a breach of trust.
“She accepted or agreed to accept a benefit for her assistance in processing these claims,” Boyce told Ontario Superior Court Justice Catherine Aitken.
Boyce said the Crown intends to prove Serre not only committed a breach of trust by taking money, but by the very fact she agreed to give preferential treatment to the claimants at all.
“Just through acts of giving preferential treatment to those files would be a breach of trust by Ms. Serre,” he said.
The nine applicants who paid Dakik are expected to be called as witnesses this week and next. Their evidence will include tape-recorded conversations and agreements they made with Dakik. Dakik is expected to take the witness stand in about two weeks, where prosecutors expect to confront him with the wiretaps and other surveillance.
The Crown will also introduce evidence that will show when Serre or others searched for the applicants’ electronic files. Occasionally Serre would search the files within a day of discussing them with Dakik, Boyce alleged.
The prosecution spent much of the first day introducing many of the exhibits seized from searches of Citizenship and Immigration Canada office and Serre and Dakik’s homes.
The trial continues Tuesday.
Assistant Crown attorney Mike Boyce said Diane Serre teamed up with Issam Dakik to take thousands of dollars from mostly Arab immigrants in exchange for fast-tracking their applications. Dakik would meet with the applicants and collect the money before contacting Serre who would use her influence as a manager and supervisor in Citizenship and Immigration Canada’s Catherine Street office, said Boyce.
Serre, 41, pleaded not guilty to 28 charges Monday, including multiple allegations of fraud against the government and breach of trust of a public official. She is also charged with one count of bribery.
Dakik portrayed himself as someone who had inside information, Boyce added.
Dakik, who has pleaded guilty to his role in the scheme, along with credit card fraud, was sentenced to two years and nine months in prison in 2006. At the time, Dakik admitted he paid Serre a portion of the proceeds of the scheme.
The scheme allegedly began in January 2003 and continued until December 2004, when Serre and Dakik were arrested by RCMP in an operation dubbed “Project Argon.”
Nine applicants made the illegal cash payments, which the RCMP said at the time of Serre’s arrest ranged from between $4,000 and $25,000.
In an opening address, Boyce outlined Crown evidence that will be presented over the six-week trial, including wiretap evidence that the prosecutor said proved that Serre was Dakik’s “insider” at Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
Police surveillance observed visits to Dakik’s home by Serre that corresponded with wiretapped telephone calls to some of the applicants — calls where Dakik would often either put the applicants on hold or could be heard consulting with someone else in the room.
Boyce alleged when an undercover police agent approached Dakik, he was told the first $300 he paid would go to “the lawyer.” Bills with the same serial numbers were recovered two weeks later from Serre’s bedroom, said the prosecution.
Among the allegations is that Serre also handed over sensitive Citizenship and Immigration Canada documents to Dakik and made phone calls to outside government agencies, including CSIS, to see if some of the steps of the application process could be expedited.
Not all of Serre’s actions would be improper when viewed in isolation, said Boyce, but when viewed in the context of Serre’s relationship with Dakik, they equated to a breach of trust.
“She accepted or agreed to accept a benefit for her assistance in processing these claims,” Boyce told Ontario Superior Court Justice Catherine Aitken.
Boyce said the Crown intends to prove Serre not only committed a breach of trust by taking money, but by the very fact she agreed to give preferential treatment to the claimants at all.
“Just through acts of giving preferential treatment to those files would be a breach of trust by Ms. Serre,” he said.
The nine applicants who paid Dakik are expected to be called as witnesses this week and next. Their evidence will include tape-recorded conversations and agreements they made with Dakik. Dakik is expected to take the witness stand in about two weeks, where prosecutors expect to confront him with the wiretaps and other surveillance.
The Crown will also introduce evidence that will show when Serre or others searched for the applicants’ electronic files. Occasionally Serre would search the files within a day of discussing them with Dakik, Boyce alleged.
The prosecution spent much of the first day introducing many of the exhibits seized from searches of Citizenship and Immigration Canada office and Serre and Dakik’s homes.
The trial continues Tuesday.
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