Canada deportation case accused Mishra sentenced to three-year jail

Avneet Kaur

Jalandhar, May 30

Brijesh Mishra, the main accused in the ‘fake offer letters’ scam that jeopardised the immigration status of hundreds of international students from India, primarily from Punjab, has pled guilty to three counts and has been sentenced to three years in prison.

The sentencing was confirmed in an email from Adam Parsons, an official involved in the investigation, to Chaman Batth, one of the affected students who testified in the case. The Tribune has obtained a copy of this email.

Mishra, who was arrested by the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) in June last year, now faces approximately 19 months of imprisonment after accounting for time served. However, he may be eligible for parole before completing the full term, according to the email.

In the Vancouver courtroom, Mishra, dressed in a red jumpsuit, apologised for numerous Canadian immigration offenses. “I am sorry,” he told the court. “I cannot change the past, but I can make sure I do not do it again in the future,” reported CBC News.

Operating an immigration agency called EMSA in Jalandhar, Mishra was charged with multiple offenses under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, including unauthorised representation, counselling misrepresentation, and aiding individuals to misrepresent or withhold material facts. He went missing from Jalandhar just before the scandal came to light in March last year.

The scam had put about 300 students from Punjab and other Indian states at risk of deportation. When the scandal gained media attention, many of these students had already received notices from CBSA to leave the country. These students had gone to Canada on study visas between 2016 and 2020. The fraud was discovered when they applied for postgraduate work permits or permanent residency, and CBSA found their offer letters had been tampered with.

This scam garnered widespread attention in both Canada and India last year.

Jalandhar police also registered a case against Brijesh Kumar Mishra and his partner Rahul Bhargava under Sections 465, 467, 468, 471, and 120B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Additionally, Jalandhar district authorities revoked the license of his consultancy.