Three individuals sentenced to 18 months of jail in large-scale immigration fraud case

April 18, 2017                  

Vancouver, British Columbia                    

Canada Border Services Agency/Canada Revenue Agency

Today, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) Criminal Investigations Section and the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) announced that three individuals involved in an unlicensed immigration consulting business received hefty sentences and fines.

Jin “Fanny” Ma, Ming Kun “Makkie” Wu and Wen “Vivian” Jiang were sentenced under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, the Income Tax Act and the Criminal Code for their part in large-scale immigration fraud. Each had previously pleaded guilty to several charges, including representing on immigration matters without authority, passport offences, misrepresentation, forgery and tax evasion. Each of the accused were sentenced to 18 months of incarceration in a British Columbia provincial jail. Ms. Ma received a fine in the amount of $96,000; Ms. Wu $50,000; and Ms. Jiang in the amount of $74,000.   

These sentences are the result of a lengthy investigation into the activities of New Can Consultants Ltd. and Wellong International Investments Ltd., two unlicensed immigration consulting businesses offering services in Metro Vancouver.

This is the single largest investigation of immigration fraud in British Columbia’s history. From 2006 to 2013, over 1,600 of New Can’s clients collectively paid approximately Can$10 million for fraudulent services — this included creating the fictitious appearance of Canadian residency to maintain permanent resident status and obtain Canadian citizenship. The CBSA’s Inland Enforcement Section has reviewed the list of clients, and is actively pursuing investigations on any person found to have misrepresented themselves through fraud or deceit in order to obtain or maintain their permanent resident status in Canada.