Barely metres from the U.S. border, four members of a family from Gujarat were frozen to death in the Manitoba province of Canada on January 19, 2022, while attempting to cross over to the other side on foot. The deaths triggered investigations by the Indian agencies that have unveiled the modus operandi of education visas being used to first facilitate the travel of individuals to Canada and then to the U.S. using illegal means.
The bodies of Jagdish Patel (39), his wife Vaishali (37), their daughter Vihangi (11), and son Dharmik (3) were recovered, whereas seven others accompanying them were arrested by the U.S. border patrol police.
Soon after the chilling details of the tragedy came to light, Gujarat’s Crime Branch registered a case, arrested Bhavesh Ashokbhai Patel, Dashrath Pratap Chaudhary, and Yogesh Chunilal Patel, and filed a chargesheet in May 2023. Their overseas links were also investigated in coordination with other law enforcement agencies, including the Enforcement Directorate.
As it turned out, Mr. Yogesh Patel had allegedly incorporated a limited liability partnership firm in September 2018 along with another person. It provided overseas education consultation. Along with his associates, the accused facilitated visas for people to be sent to Canada ostensibly for getting enrolled in the colleges there for higher studies. However, they never joined those colleges.
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The facade of visas for education purposes had been created by the human traffickers to ultimately send people to the U.S. via the Canadian border. They charged about ₹60 lakh per head for activating the entire network that had links in the U.S. as well for receiving the trafficked victims, said a probe agency official.
One key accused operating in Canada was Fenilkumar Kantilal Patel. He reportedly lives in Saskatchewan province along with his brother. Instrumental in the transportation of the victims to the border was also one Bitta Singh aka Bittu Paji. It is learnt that the authorities have sought assistance from the Canadian counterparts in questioning them and, if necessary, securing their custody for trial, but to no avail so far.
Police investigations revealed that Jagdish Patel and his family were sent to Canada on tourist visas. However, of the seven others, six travelled on student visas and one on tourist/student visa. Varshil Pankajbhai Dhobi and Priyanka Kantibhai Chaudhari took admission in one college, while Arpitkumar Rameshbhai Patel got enrolled with another one, as alleged.
The investigators got hold of a ledger of Mr. Yogesh Patel’s firm titled ‘Education and immigration, Vastrapur - Students Fees Exp (Ban)’ for the period April 1, 2020, to December 3, 2021. It listed various amounts against the names of about 150 individuals. The authorities suspect that they have already been sent to the U.S. illegally.
The agencies found that the syndicate’s agents would approach those looking to migrating to the U.S. and make arrangements for their admissions in Canada-based colleges. Using the admission papers, they obtained student visas.
Following the financial trail, the Directorate found that the agents would get opened bank accounts in the name of those being trafficked to the U.S. and keep with themselves the credentials. Third-party fund transfers were made to those accounts. A part of the deposit was debited towards fee payment of the college in Canada, while the rest - usually close to ₹30 lakh - was kept in fixed deposit, based on which an overdraft account was opened.
The overdraft accounts, used for sending money to a third party, were closed later on maturity of the fixed-deposits. The agencies suspect all the transactions were linked to the syndicate as the accounts were operated by its agents. Since those taken to Canada on student visas never attended the colleges, their fees were remitted back to the accounts after deducting nominal processing charges. That amount would also be transferred to a third-party account.
The probe agency also zeroed in on a financial service company through which fees were paid to the Canadian colleges. Investigations revealed that close to 8,500 transactions were made to various educational institutions in Canada on behalf of the students from Gujarat from September 7, 2021, to August 9, 2024.
“Of these 8,500 transactions, around 4,300 are related to duplicate names. Further, the company had received back funds/fee(s) through around 670 transactions from the colleges in Canada. Of these, around 300 transactions pertained to duplicate names. It is suspected that the amounts received back were the fees refunded to the individuals who had not joined the colleges,” said an official.
Thus, at least 370 individuals are suspected to have been moved to the U.S. through the same modus operandi. Among them are 41 persons whose names figured both in the records of the financial service provider and the consultancy firm. The refunds were made by at least three colleges in Ontario, three in Toronto, and one each in Nova Scotia and Sault Ste. Marie.
On January 19, 2022, the U.S. Border police had also arrested one Steve Shand who was to drive the trafficked persons to safety, as alleged. A man code-named ‘Dirty Harry’ had hired him for the job. The U.S. police finally arrested the accused person, identified as Harshkumar Raamanlal Patel, this February.
Published - October 21, 2024 07:03 pm IST
