Two Indians Held in Guyana For Having Forged Canadian Visas

Two Indian nationals were held after they were allegedly found with forged Canadian visas onboard a Fly Jamaica Airlines flight parked at Cheddi Jagan International Airport in Guyana.

Pakaj Kumar Patel, 24, and his wife Roshini Benn Patel, 32, denied before Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts that there was any intention for fraud when they had fake Canadian visas inserted in their Republic of India passports, iNews Guyana reported. They had told the customer service representative at the airport, when the incident transpired on Feb.22, that the visas were issued by the government of Canada.

The attorney for defendants Adrian Thompson told the court that his clients had no intention of using forged documents. Following consultation with Magistrate Judy latchman, the charge was re-read to the two accused. They then pleaded guilty.

According to Police Prosecutor Arvin Moore’s account, the accused were staying with a family member in Guyana at Alberttown, Georgetown, where they spent a month. They then attempted to leave for Canada from Cheddi Jagan airport where they were de-boarded from their flight. Both the accused are business owners.

They were taken to Criminal Investigation Department where they were told that forged visas were an offence and that they would be charged. They were both fined $100,000, failing which they would be put behind bars for 12 months.

India was the worst offender when it came to entering Canada with fraudulent documents in 2016, according to an earlier report in Global News. The Canada Border Services Agency seized 415 fraudulent passports and visas in the year 2016, of which 81 were Indian. The agency presented this information in front of House of Commons in April last year.

When asked why India dominated the number, CBSA spokesperson Nicholas Dorion said: “It is not a practice of the CBSA to speculate on reasons why one passport is more commonly used fraudulently versus another.”

Earlier this month, three people were arrested at Doha International Airport while boarding a plane on the way to Montreal, Canada, on fake passport and visa documents, the Times of India had earlier reported.