A Saskatchewan man who charged foreign nationals as much as $40,000 for immigration sponsorship while using fake businesses and forged documents to obtain work and residency permits will serve his sentence in the community.
Balvir Singh, 58, pleaded guilty in April to counselling misrepresentation under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. Last month, Saskatchewan Court of King’s Bench Justice Timothy Keene sentenced him to a conditional sentence of two years less a day and imposed a $10,000 fine.
The conditional sentence allows Singh to avoid serving his custodial sentence behind bars. He must instead live at an approved residence, obey a curfew and cannot leave Saskatchewan without permission.
According to the sentencing decision, Singh submitted false documents to the Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program (SINP) and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, including forged corporate tax documents and payroll records connected to businesses that did not actually exist.
The SINP allows eligible Saskatchewan employers to nominate foreign nationals for jobs where workers are needed, potentially providing those workers with a pathway to permanent residency.
The Canada Border Services Agency began investigating Singh in 2018 after authorities noticed an unusually large number of immigration applications connected to entities associated with him. Search warrants were executed at Singh’s home and a Saskatoon restaurant in June 2021.
Investigators determined Singh was charging foreign nationals up to $40,000 for immigration sponsorship.
One victim identified in the court decision met Singh through a gurdwara and was offered employment. After Singh provided him with a work permit, Singh demanded $10,000, forcing the worker to borrow the money.
Singh later told the man he would have to pay more to obtain permanent residency. The worker paid another $16,000, followed by additional payments that ultimately brought the total to approximately $40,000.
“[The victim] was a vulnerable person victimized both financially and emotionally by the actions of the accused,” the court found, noting the victim was also required to perform unpaid work.
The decision further stated that anyone who worked for, or had a permanent residency application connected to, one of Singh’s companies had paid him money.
The victim worked at two restaurants Singh actually operated, Taste of Indian and Broadway Pizza. Although both operated from the same kitchen, they were represented as separate businesses for SINP purposes.
The worker also helped Singh erect a sign advertising a purported construction company so Singh could photograph it.
“The sign was only up to take the photos, then it came down. Balvir made the company up for SINP,” the sentencing decision states.
Singh’s defence sought either a conditional discharge or a suspended sentence, but Keene rejected those options.
The judge said a custodial sentence was required to meet the objectives of “denunciation and deterrence,” finding those goals would not be “satisfied by probation.”
However, Keene allowed that custodial sentence to be served in the community, concluding Singh “does not pose a risk and can be managed by the terms of a conditional sentence order.”
A pre-sentence report found Singh had no previous criminal convictions, had a stable home and employment history and presented a “medium” risk of reoffending.
The report also found Singh minimized his responsibility, suggesting his primary failing was not paying enough attention to how others were operating businesses he owned.
Keene agreed with that assessment and wrote that Singh appeared to retain “a degree of resentment” toward immigration authorities.
Singh came to Canada in 1993 and has four children.
The case follows a CBSA investigation that began roughly eight years before Singh was ultimately sentenced.
Keep reading
You must be logged in to post a comment.