Hunt is on in India for man who sold false promise of Canadian student visa
Published On Tue Nov 9 2010
Sandeep Ohri speaks with The Toronto Star at his office in Jalandhar in September. The 42-year old Ohri is an immigration consultant and self-proclaimed expert at helping mostly students and skilled workers secure travel visas to Canada. His company, OGIC Immigrations Consultants, has ties to 228 of the 500 student visa applications that have been refused by Canada's mission in Punjab this year because of fraud.
Charla Jones/For the Toronto Star
By Rick Westhead South Asia Bureau
NEW DELHIPolice in Punjab are seeking an immigration consultant who Canadian diplomats say has tricked thousands of local families into believing that for a fee, he could guarantee their children a student visa to study in Canada.
At the same time, the Canada Border Services Agency is investigating three Ontario colleges that continued to levy hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of admission fees from a high number of prospective students in India, never questioning why the overwhelming majority of applicants were denied permission to travel to Canada.
The Punjabi police and CBSA probes come in the wake of a Star investigation into Sandeep Ohri, a flamboyant 42-year-old immigration consultant based in the west Indian city of Jalandhar whose business has skyrocketed in recent years.
Ohri repeatedly charged thousands of dollars to help students apply to, and gain, admission to Torontos InterCultural Academy Institute; Bramptons Academy of Learning; and North Bays Canadore College. But few of his clients, if any, ever made it to Canada because their visa applications were typically supported by sham bank statements and financial documents.
Six members of the Punjab police forces economic crimes unit are searching for Ohri after raiding two of his offices. After receiving dozens of complaints against Ohris company, OGIC Immigration Consultants, police finally agreed last week to file a so-called First Information Report against Ohri, a required precursor to a formal police investigation.
Ohri couldnt be reached for comment. His cellphones are now turned off.
David Manicom, a diplomat at the Canadian mission in New Delhi, confirmed CBSA is probing the Canadian schools but cautioned that investigators have not drawn any conclusions over the schools actions.
Its reasonable for a school to charge fees to cover their administrative costs related to applications, Manicom said.
But we know is that these schools have issued a large number of acceptance letters that almost all of the applicants have had their visa requests rejected, and yet we havent received any complaints or inquiries from the schools themselves. That is what CBSA is exploring.
To date this year, the InterCultural Academy and the Academy of Learning, have granted admission to roughly 500 Indian applicants, Manicom said. All of those have been refused visas, he said.
On their websites, both schools say they charge $200 administration fees for applying, meaning those 500 applicants paid a collective $100,000.
Canadore, which charges international students a $100 (US) application fee, had three visa approvals this year out of more than 100 Ohri-related applications.
Last year, the three schools granted admission to a collective 1,300 applicants, just 10 of whom received visas and permission to travel to Canada. One of the schools went zero for 900, Manicom said.
On its website, the Academy of Learning says it has trained TWO generations of Canadians since 1987. It says it gets students job-ready and employable and offers diploma courses in business, office administration, healthcare and other industries.
Raman Joshi, an official with the Academy of Learning, was skeptical of the Canadian missions claim that so many of Ohris clients are filing sham visa applications.
It is hard to imagine that every single applicant is filing applications with fraudulent bank statements, Joshi wrote in an email. Some borrow from banks, some have relatives here who willing to provide support during their stay. Some seem to come from wealthy families. How can 100 per cent of them be frauds. I cannot believe that the Indian society is corrupt to that extent.
Jessica Thomason, a spokesperson for Canadore College in North Bay, said international students must complete a stringent academic-based application process before being granted admission.
Students, she said, must have senior-level education from their country of origin, and must meet admissions requirements in the same manner as our domestic students. International students must also prove English competency and pay the $100 US application fee.
Canadore College is not engaged in the student visa issuance process, and is not involved in determining the financial solvency of students to study in Canada, Thomason wrote.
She didnt say why the school had not contacted the Canadian mission.
The Canadian embassy in India has not contacted Canadore College to report any concerns regarding its international admissions process, Thomason wrote.
The InterCultural Academy Institute, which is in the heart of Yorkville, says its curriculum is limited to intensive and regular English courses, according to its website.
A school spokesman denied knowledge of Ohris record.
We were not aware of this concern and the allegations of fraud regarding Sandeep Ohri and OGIC are disturbing, Esther Kim wrote in an emailed statement.
Each year, numerous students from around the world attend our school to receive quality ESL training.
We are disappointed that none of the students who were recommended to us by Mr. Ohri have been approved for student visas but our main concern is to put our resources towards educating our current students.
Canadian immigration agents say the number of student visa applications from India accompanied by fraudulent documentation is increasing. Agents such as Ohri, Canadian officials say, are largely responsible for the rise.
Rajneesh Kumar, 24, is one of Ohris alleged victims.
In February 2009, his father Hansraj, a retired government worker living in Jalandhar, paid Ohris company an initial 40,000 rupees ($905 Cdn) to help their family prepare his student visa application.
Ohri told the family Canadian officials would insist they have a bank account balance of 1.5 million rupees ($33,930) and asked them for their bank account information so he could deposit that much in their account, Kumar said.
He took 45,000 rupees ($1,018) from us for interest payable in advance for the loan and another 6,500 rupees ($147) for a visa fee, Kumar said.
Said his father Hansraj: I have been to his office many times and if the police and government cannot punish him, God will and he will have to bear the brunt of his criminal activities all by himself.(www.torontostar.com)
Published On Tue Nov 9 2010
Charla Jones/For the Toronto Star
NEW DELHIPolice in Punjab are seeking an immigration consultant who Canadian diplomats say has tricked thousands of local families into believing that for a fee, he could guarantee their children a student visa to study in Canada.
At the same time, the Canada Border Services Agency is investigating three Ontario colleges that continued to levy hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of admission fees from a high number of prospective students in India, never questioning why the overwhelming majority of applicants were denied permission to travel to Canada.
The Punjabi police and CBSA probes come in the wake of a Star investigation into Sandeep Ohri, a flamboyant 42-year-old immigration consultant based in the west Indian city of Jalandhar whose business has skyrocketed in recent years.
Ohri repeatedly charged thousands of dollars to help students apply to, and gain, admission to Torontos InterCultural Academy Institute; Bramptons Academy of Learning; and North Bays Canadore College. But few of his clients, if any, ever made it to Canada because their visa applications were typically supported by sham bank statements and financial documents.
Six members of the Punjab police forces economic crimes unit are searching for Ohri after raiding two of his offices. After receiving dozens of complaints against Ohris company, OGIC Immigration Consultants, police finally agreed last week to file a so-called First Information Report against Ohri, a required precursor to a formal police investigation.
Ohri couldnt be reached for comment. His cellphones are now turned off.
David Manicom, a diplomat at the Canadian mission in New Delhi, confirmed CBSA is probing the Canadian schools but cautioned that investigators have not drawn any conclusions over the schools actions.
Its reasonable for a school to charge fees to cover their administrative costs related to applications, Manicom said.
But we know is that these schools have issued a large number of acceptance letters that almost all of the applicants have had their visa requests rejected, and yet we havent received any complaints or inquiries from the schools themselves. That is what CBSA is exploring.
To date this year, the InterCultural Academy and the Academy of Learning, have granted admission to roughly 500 Indian applicants, Manicom said. All of those have been refused visas, he said.
On their websites, both schools say they charge $200 administration fees for applying, meaning those 500 applicants paid a collective $100,000.
Canadore, which charges international students a $100 (US) application fee, had three visa approvals this year out of more than 100 Ohri-related applications.
Last year, the three schools granted admission to a collective 1,300 applicants, just 10 of whom received visas and permission to travel to Canada. One of the schools went zero for 900, Manicom said.
On its website, the Academy of Learning says it has trained TWO generations of Canadians since 1987. It says it gets students job-ready and employable and offers diploma courses in business, office administration, healthcare and other industries.
Raman Joshi, an official with the Academy of Learning, was skeptical of the Canadian missions claim that so many of Ohris clients are filing sham visa applications.
It is hard to imagine that every single applicant is filing applications with fraudulent bank statements, Joshi wrote in an email. Some borrow from banks, some have relatives here who willing to provide support during their stay. Some seem to come from wealthy families. How can 100 per cent of them be frauds. I cannot believe that the Indian society is corrupt to that extent.
Jessica Thomason, a spokesperson for Canadore College in North Bay, said international students must complete a stringent academic-based application process before being granted admission.
Students, she said, must have senior-level education from their country of origin, and must meet admissions requirements in the same manner as our domestic students. International students must also prove English competency and pay the $100 US application fee.
Canadore College is not engaged in the student visa issuance process, and is not involved in determining the financial solvency of students to study in Canada, Thomason wrote.
She didnt say why the school had not contacted the Canadian mission.
The Canadian embassy in India has not contacted Canadore College to report any concerns regarding its international admissions process, Thomason wrote.
The InterCultural Academy Institute, which is in the heart of Yorkville, says its curriculum is limited to intensive and regular English courses, according to its website.
A school spokesman denied knowledge of Ohris record.
We were not aware of this concern and the allegations of fraud regarding Sandeep Ohri and OGIC are disturbing, Esther Kim wrote in an emailed statement.
Each year, numerous students from around the world attend our school to receive quality ESL training.
We are disappointed that none of the students who were recommended to us by Mr. Ohri have been approved for student visas but our main concern is to put our resources towards educating our current students.
Canadian immigration agents say the number of student visa applications from India accompanied by fraudulent documentation is increasing. Agents such as Ohri, Canadian officials say, are largely responsible for the rise.
Rajneesh Kumar, 24, is one of Ohris alleged victims.
In February 2009, his father Hansraj, a retired government worker living in Jalandhar, paid Ohris company an initial 40,000 rupees ($905 Cdn) to help their family prepare his student visa application.
Ohri told the family Canadian officials would insist they have a bank account balance of 1.5 million rupees ($33,930) and asked them for their bank account information so he could deposit that much in their account, Kumar said.
He took 45,000 rupees ($1,018) from us for interest payable in advance for the loan and another 6,500 rupees ($147) for a visa fee, Kumar said.
Said his father Hansraj: I have been to his office many times and if the police and government cannot punish him, God will and he will have to bear the brunt of his criminal activities all by himself.(www.torontostar.com)
