Ahmedabad visa consultant cheated of ₹98 lakh in Canadian work permit fraud

A visa consultant from Ahmedabad has filed a police complaint after allegedly being cheated of ₹98.15 lakh by three people who promised to provide Canadian work permits and genuine Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) letters for his clients.

The complaint was registered at Satellite Police Station against Jayesh Patel of Gandhinagar, his son Yash Patel, who lives in Canada, and Yash's father-in-law, Padmin Patel

According to the complaint, the visa consultant, Alpeshbhai came into contact with Jayesh Patel in March 2023. Jayesh claimed that his son Yash could quickly arrange Canadian LMIA work permits. After successfully completing a few initial tasks, the accused gained Alpeshbhai’s trust.

Believing them, Alpeshbhai handed over the files of four clients and paid a total of ₹98.15 lakh for their work permit processing. Out of this amount, ₹66.89 lakh was given in cash to Jayesh Patel, ₹15.26 lakh was paid to Padmin Patel at his jewellery shop in CG Road, and ₹16 lakh was sent to Yash Patel in Canada. The accused later sent LMIA approval letters through WhatsApp and assured that visas would be issued soon. 

However, when the visas were not issued for a prolonged period of time, Alpeshbhai verified the documents with Canadian authorities. The investigation revealed that the LMIA letters were fake and had been created by editing other people's documents. According to the complaint, Yash Patel had also confirmed on WhatsApp that he had received the money sent to him in Canada.

This message later became an important part of the evidence submitted to the police during the investigation.

When Alpeshbhai demanded his money back, the accused allegedly refused to return it. Police have started an investigation into the case.