Big win for Indian students in Canada: immigration scam kingpin gets jail term

Mishra, who operated a firm called M/S Education Migration Services, was charged with multiple offenses under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. These included unauthorized representation, counselling misrepresentation, and aiding individuals to misrepresent or withhold material facts. The scam, which came to light in March 2023, affected hundreds of Indian students, primarily from Punjab, who were facing deportation from Canada after discovering that their offer letters were fake.

According to the CBSA, Mishra, who hails from Darbhanga in Bihar, was apprehended at an airport in British Columbia while attempting to enter Canada later years The charges laid against him stemmed from a comprehensive criminal investigation that revealed he had been offering immigration advice without a proper license and had been inducing clients to misrepresent information to Canadian authorities.

The court proceedings detailed Mishra’s actions between January 1, 2016, and February 12, 2020, during which he knowingly advised individuals in connection with immigration applications under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. His illegal activities were contrary to Section 91(1) of the Act and resulted in significant distress for many students and their families.

On March 17, 2023, Jalandhar police registered a case against Brijesh Kumar Mishra and his partners under sections 465, 467, 468, 471, and 120B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The investigation was later transferred to the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit. Additionally, the Jalandhar district authorities revoked the license of his consultancy.

Mishra charged an average of Rs 16 lakh from each student for visa-related services and college admissions. Upon the students’ arrival in Canada, Mishra would inform them that seats were unavailable at the colleges listed in the offer letters. He would then advise them to either seek admission at other colleges or wait for the next intake. In some instances, he returned the college fees, but in many cases, he did not.