Over 260 Canadian colleges, Rs 60 lakh per person: Trafficking of Indians into US under ED lens

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, December 26, 2024: In an explosive investigation, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has revealed that as many as 262 colleges in Canada have been suspected of being involved in a money laundering case linked to the trafficking of Indians into the United States from the Canadian border. Moreover, once lured into the conspiracy, the individuals were also being charged nearly 60 lakh to cross over to the US, it said.

The investigation is linked to the death of a four-member Indian family in Canada on January 19, 2022. The family, which hailed from Dingucha village in Gujarat, died due to extreme cold weather conditions in the country, while the four were trying to cross over to the US illegally.

The ED said it began its investigation as it took cognisance of a First Information Report (FIR) the Ahmedabad Police had registered against one Bhavesh Ashokbhai Patel, who emerged as the main accused in the matter.

A case was also registered against a few others, under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

According to the probe agency, Patel and others were alleged to have “hatched a well-planned conspiracy to send people (Indians) to the USA through Canada via illegal channels thereby committing the offence of human trafficking."

How Indians were being illegally sent from Canada to US

Earlier, the ED had found that as part of the racket, the accused “arranged" admission for people, desirous to go to the US illegally, in colleges and universities based in Canada.

A Canadian student visa was applied for such people and once they reached that country, instead of joining the college, they “illegally" crossed the US-Canada border, the agency said in a statement on Tuesday.

“In view of this, the fee received by colleges based in Canada was remitted back to the individuals’ account," the ED alleged.

Indians were “lured" into the racket and charged between Rs 55 and Rs 60 lakh per person, according to the ED.

ED undertakes searches, seizes documents

The agency said it undertook fresh searches in this case on December 10 and December 19 at eight locations in Mumbai, Nagpur, Gandhinagar and Vadodara.

Following the searches, the ED found that two “entities", one based in Mumbai and the other in Nagpur, entered into an “agreement" for admission of Indians in universities based in foreign countries on a commission basis.

The agency said the latest searches revealed that about 25,000 students were being referred by one entity and more than 10,000 students by the other to various colleges based outside India every year.

“Further, it is gathered that there are around 1,700 agents/partners based in Gujarat and around 3,500 agents/partners of other entities all over India out of which around 800 are active. It is further revealed that around 112 colleges based in Canada have entered into an agreement with one entity and more than 150 with another entity. Their involvement in the instant case is under investigation," the ED said.

The agency also suspected that out of the total 262 such colleges in Canada, a few, which are geographically located near the Canada-US border, are involved in the trafficking of Indian nationals.

As the Enforcement Directorate conducted searches, it said it froze Rs 19 lakh in bank deposits, some “incriminating" documents and digital devices, It also seized two vehicles in connection with its probe.