I’ve been writing for years about LEGAL immigration programs in the US that allow those people from a whole long list of countries who have a little money to “invest” to get into the US and buy such things as mom and pop gas stations and convenience stores only to turn them into fraudulent enterprises most notably stealing from the food stamp program. (See my earlier post this a.m. for example)
Now, we learn that Canada, greedy for “investors” too, has a legal immigration program that is a major fraud operation. Here is a long story and an investigation by the Globe and Mail about how Canada is being hoodwinked by unscrupulous Chinese “investors.”
Here is just one little bit from the Globe’s story:
But a bigger threat may lurk abroad. More than 80 per cent of the companies The Globe’s counterfeit client asked for help offered to sugarcoat the past, even if it includes a criminal conviction and time in jail.
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney confirms that “crooked consultants” in such places as India, Pakistan and especially China are a problem. “A lot of people,” he said in an interview, “are willing to pay a lot of money to cut corners.”
I wish we had a news gathering organization as aggressive as the Globe and Mail which actually set up a sting operation to get this story.
Our American food stamp scams (convenience stores owned by immigrant investors) would be a great subject for such a sting!
By the way, if you are interested in more on how the American E-2 Treaty Investor program works, see this post I wrote last year at this time. Note that we even have law firms in some cities helping the “investors” get here and acquire their very own personal convenience store!