Brijesh Mishra pleads guilty in international students fraud case in Canada; sentenced to three years

Brijesh Mishra pleads guilty in international students fraud case in Canada; sentenced to three years

Ottawa: An Indian immigration agent at the centre of a scam to cheat students from India by issuing fake college admission to procure Canadian visas has been sentenced to three years in jail after he pleaded guilty before a court in Vancouver to immigration offences, according to a media report.

Brijesh Mishra, 37, was arrested after a Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) investigation tied him to dozens of fraudulent acceptance letters for Canadian colleges and universities that were provided to prospective international students from India between 2016 and 2020.

Dressed in a red jumpsuit, Mishra on Wednesday stood inside a Vancouver courtroom and apologised for a slew of Canadian immigration offences.

Mishra pleaded guilty to three charges related to Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, including misrepresentation and communicating false information, CBC News reported. “I’m sorry,” he told the courtroom. “I cannot change the past, but I can make sure I do not do it again in the future.”

Mishra was arrested in Surrey, British Columbia, in June 2023. He entered Canada on a tourist visa, which had expired at the time of his arrest.

Crown and defence lawyers issued a joint sentencing submission asking for three years in prison, to which the judge agreed was sufficient. Mishra’s time in custody since his 2023 arrest counts as time served, meaning he will serve an additional 19 months.

After serving his sentence in Canada, Mishra is expected to be deported to India where he faces further criminal charges, including a human smuggling offence. The maximum penalty for that offence is death.

No victims or their family members were present in the courtroom. Federal Crown Prosecutor Molly Greene declined to comment on the case.

In an agreed statement of facts between the crown and the defence, Greene outlined a common pattern based on victim testimony.

Greene said prospective students typically came from a modest background in Punjab with the desire to study abroad in Canada and were referred to Mishra by family or friends.