The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday (December 24, 2024) said it is investigating the “involvement” of some Canadian colleges and some Indian institutions in a money laundering case linked to the smuggling of Indians to the US across the Canadian border.
The federal agency’s investigation is linked to the deaths of an Indian family of four from the village of Dingucha in Gujarat, who died on January 19, 2022 due to extreme cold while trying to illegally cross the Canada-US border.
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The ED took cognizance of the Ahmedabad police FIR to register its complaint under the criminal sections of the Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against prime accused Bhavesh Ashokbhai Patel and some others.
Patel and others are accused of “conspiracy to commit the crime of human trafficking and to send persons (Indians) through illegal channels to the United States through Canada”.
The agency’s investigation revealed that as part of this human trafficking racket, the accused “arranged” admissions to Canadian-based colleges and universities for people who wanted to travel illegally to the US.
Canadian student visas were applied for for such individuals and once they arrived in that country, instead of enrolling in college, they “illegally” crossed the US-Canada border and never joined a Canadian college, the agency said in a statement.
“In view of this, the fees received by the Canada-based colleges were remitted to the individual’s account,” the ED alleged.
Innocent Indians were “lured” into the US racket for illegal entry and were charged between ₹ 55 and ₹ 60 lakh per person, according to the ED.
The federal probe agency said it conducted fresh searches in the case between December 10 and December 19 at eight locations in Mumbai, Nagpur, Gandhinagar and Vadodara.
It found, the ED said, that two “institutions”, one in Mumbai and the other in Nagpur, entered into an “agreement” for the admission of Indians to universities abroad on a commission basis.
A recent investigation by the agency found that every year around 25,000 students are sent by one institution and over 10,000 students by another institution to different colleges outside India.
“Further, it has been gathered that there are about 1,700 agents/partners in Gujarat and about 3,500 agents/partners across India and out of which about 800 are active. There are about 112 colleges in Canada. One has tied up with an organization and another unit has their involvement in research, ” ED said.
Out of the total 262 colleges in Canada, some colleges geographically located near the Canada-US border are suspected to be involved in the smuggling of Indian citizens.
published – December 25, 2024 at 01:31 pm IST