This conduct shold never be tolerated from a civil servant. It reamins to be seen if some applicatns who gained status will be prosecuted.
Immigration officer admits scam - Crime - Canoe.ca
June 30, 2012
Immigration officer admits scam
By SAM PAZZANO, QMI Agency
The RCMP has begun an urgent, widespread probe of files of dozens of Toronto-area Hispanic residents following the arrest of a corrupt immigration official. (QMI Agency)
TORONTO - A senior immigration officer admitted he accepted bribes from newcomers in exchange for status in Canada.
George Gonsalves Barriero, 55, collected $6,000 from two victims before he asked a third victim for $1,500. Instead of paying up, the third victim reported him to the police in 2010, said Crown attorney Ken Lockhart.
Barriero pleaded guilty to three counts of breach of trust of public office and three counts of defrauding the government of Canada this week. He has been suspended from his Citizen and Immigration Canada job at the Dundas St. W. office since being charged in December 2010.
Barriero, who was with immigration for 12 years, started working in 2005 as an officer with the discretion to approve applications for permanent residency or refuse and refer them to other departments for risk assessments, said Lockhart in reading an agreed statement of facts.
He used his position to exploit one victim for $4,000 in bribes and another for $2,000. These two - who won’t be charged - are being treated as victims and will provide victim impact statements when the sentencing hearing starts on Aug. 28 in front of Madam Justice Andrea Tuck-Jackson at the Ontario Court of Justice.
At the time of his arrest, the RCMP began probing the files of dozens of Toronto-area Hispanic residents following Barriero’s arrest.
Officers allege the accused preyed on members of the city’s Hispanic community. In December 2010, RCMP Sgt. Marc LaPorte said officers of an Immigration and Passport Unit are scouring cases handled by the accused.
“We are working backwards,” LaPorte said Friday. “So far we are aware of three victims.”
Police allege some immigrants, who had a checkered history, said they paid $2,000 each to a man to have their cases approved.
“The suspect had the authority to grant people permanent resident status in Canada,” LaPorte said. “Some victims were blatantly asked for money.”
Barriero approached applicants by offering to approve their applications for money.
“We take all allegations of employee misconduct very seriously and have initiated a full internal investigation,” said Immigration Canada’s regional director general, Lucille LeBlanc. “We have been fully co-operating with the RCMP and have taken the necessary actions to safeguard the integrity of our operations.”
There were suspicions the fraudulent scheme was more widespread but only three cases were prosecuted.
Showing posts with label scam. Show all posts
Showing posts with label scam. Show all posts
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
INDIA: NIGERIAN INVOLVED IN ALLEGED HUGE VISA SCAM
This was reported by the Times of India. It is amazing how people continue to resort to those who make outlandish promises of quick visas, success, and `guarantees`. The best practice for applicants would be to hire only reputable lawyers with a proven track record who will give applicants a realistic assessment of their chances to migrate.
Nigerian pulls off $150K scam in state - The Times of India
Nigerian pulls off $150K scam in state
TNN Oct 12, 2011, 04.54AM IST
AHMEDABAD: It was a mix of immigration scam and Nigerian email scam that stumped many in the state and cost them $1,50,000 collectively. Investigators believe that Eradiri Erepamo, 31, a resident of Nigeria, might be involved in other similar scams in India.
City police crime branch officials said that in October 2010, Manish Panchal, a resident of Nava Vadaj, had filed a complaint against his immigration agents, who had taken money from him for Canadian visa.
However, the accused, proprietor of Vidhi Visa Consultancy at Nehrunagar, Divyej Bhut, and his brother-in-law who was proprietor of Holiday Corner in Rajkot, Hitesh Dathaliya, did not provide the original passport and visa. These two, along with two others, were arrested by a team of special operations group (SOG).
During questioning, Bhut and Dathaliya told the cops that when the former was working with a luxury hotel in the UK, he came in touch with Nigerian national Eradiri Erepamo. He introduced himself to Bhut as Jim Casey, and promised that he could provide authentic visas for anyone against payment.
"It was the first phase of scam. Bhut came back to Rajkot in 2010, and started a immigration consultancy with his brother-in-law. After Rajkot, they started a similar firm in Ahmedabad. Bhut sent 25 passports to Casey in Ghana, along with $500 for each application. Most of the applicants wanted to go to the US through Canada. After a fortnight, Casey sent the scanned copies of visa and passport to Bhut who distributed the same to the applicants" said P I Solanki, crime branch inspector.
The second phase of scam took off when 20 applicants sent $3,500 each for visa. Crime branch officials said that it was a true-blue Nigerian scam. After getting the money, Eradiri said that he was sending the passports through courier. "The courier company existed only on web. When the passports did not arrive even after a month, Eradiri said that there has been some trouble in an African nation at war and if they want to free the parcel, they would have to send $1,5000. This amount wa" said a crime branch official.
Nigerian pulls off $150K scam in state - The Times of India
Nigerian pulls off $150K scam in state
TNN Oct 12, 2011, 04.54AM IST
AHMEDABAD: It was a mix of immigration scam and Nigerian email scam that stumped many in the state and cost them $1,50,000 collectively. Investigators believe that Eradiri Erepamo, 31, a resident of Nigeria, might be involved in other similar scams in India.
City police crime branch officials said that in October 2010, Manish Panchal, a resident of Nava Vadaj, had filed a complaint against his immigration agents, who had taken money from him for Canadian visa.
However, the accused, proprietor of Vidhi Visa Consultancy at Nehrunagar, Divyej Bhut, and his brother-in-law who was proprietor of Holiday Corner in Rajkot, Hitesh Dathaliya, did not provide the original passport and visa. These two, along with two others, were arrested by a team of special operations group (SOG).
During questioning, Bhut and Dathaliya told the cops that when the former was working with a luxury hotel in the UK, he came in touch with Nigerian national Eradiri Erepamo. He introduced himself to Bhut as Jim Casey, and promised that he could provide authentic visas for anyone against payment.
"It was the first phase of scam. Bhut came back to Rajkot in 2010, and started a immigration consultancy with his brother-in-law. After Rajkot, they started a similar firm in Ahmedabad. Bhut sent 25 passports to Casey in Ghana, along with $500 for each application. Most of the applicants wanted to go to the US through Canada. After a fortnight, Casey sent the scanned copies of visa and passport to Bhut who distributed the same to the applicants" said P I Solanki, crime branch inspector.
The second phase of scam took off when 20 applicants sent $3,500 each for visa. Crime branch officials said that it was a true-blue Nigerian scam. After getting the money, Eradiri said that he was sending the passports through courier. "The courier company existed only on web. When the passports did not arrive even after a month, Eradiri said that there has been some trouble in an African nation at war and if they want to free the parcel, they would have to send $1,5000. This amount wa" said a crime branch official.
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