The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) announced today that Gilbert Leland Platts was convicted of misrepresentation pursuant to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) in Edmonton Provincial Court on June 16, 2015. Platts was sentenced to six months incarceration to be served in the community for his involvement in a marriage of convenience.
The CBSA filed charges against Platts in February 2014 following an investigation which determined that Platts had agreed to a marriage of convenience with a female foreign national and sponsor her Permanent Resident application to Citizenship and Immigration Canada as her spouse in exchange for $5,000.
The female foreign national entered Canada in June 2007 on a work permit. She was issued an exclusion order and removed from Canada in July 2013.
Quick Facts
- This landmark case marks the first time in Alberta that charges were laid and prosecuted in a marriage of convenience case
- The CBSA takes all violations of Canada’s immigration laws, including marriage fraud, very seriously and works closely with its partners to investigate and prosecute to the fullest extent possible those who violate IRPA.
- If a permanent resident (whether they became one through sponsorship or other means) commits an offence in Canada, the CBSA will respond in accordance with legislation set out in the IRPA.
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Associated Links
Visitors to Canada
How to Report a Fraud
Edmonton man charged in alleged marriage of convenience
For media info:
CBSA – Regional Communications
1 844-245-2272
PrairieMedia@cbsa-asfc.gc.ca
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