College offer letter scam: Main accused held in Canada

Mishra, who originally hails from Darbhanga in Bihar, was arrested at an airport in British Columbia on June 23 while attempting to enter Canada. The CBSA charged him with offering immigration advice without a licence and counselling individuals to misrepresent or withhold information from the authorities. According to Canadian media reports, only licensed lawyers and consultants registered with the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants can legally offer immigration advice and services.

A press release from CBSA stated, “On June 23, 2023, the CBSA Criminal Investigations Section laid charges under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) based on the evidence collected during the criminal investigation. These include IRPA Section 91(1) Unauthorized Representation or Advice for Consideration, Section 126 Counselling Misrepresentation, Section 127(a) Misrepresentation (Direct or Indirect Misrepresentation), Section 127(b) Misrepresentation (Communicating False Information), and Section 124(1)(a) Non-Compliance with the Act.”

Nina Patel, regional director general, Pacific Region, Canada Border Services Agency, said, “Our government is taking action against those who are responsible for fraud while protecting those who’ve come here to pursue their studies. I want to thank CBSA’s criminal investigators for their hard work in protecting Canadians and those who hope to come here.”

The release states that foreign students seeking to study in Canada require letters of acceptance from recognised post-secondary institutions to qualify for a student permit. The agency is responsible for identifying, investigating and prosecuting individuals and entities that violate the Customs Act and the IRPA. Mishra is currently in pre-trial detention in British Columbia and is scheduled for a bail hearing on Saturday night.

On March 17, the Jalandhar police had registered a case against Mishra and his partners under sections 465, 467, 468, 471, and 120B of the IPC. Later, the investigation was handed over to the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit. Furthermore, the licence of his consultancy was cancelled by the Jalandhar district authorities. Surprisingly, Mishra is not new to such police actions as he was previously arrested by the Jalandhar police in 2013 for duping students when he was running ‘Easy Way Immigration Agency’. After that, he opened a new agency called ‘Education Migration Services’ in 2014 in Jalandhar, which was utilised by the 700-odd students now facing deportation from Canada, providing them with temporary relief.