PAIR ACCUSED OF HELPING TO FAKE REFUGEE CLAIMS

Two people in Metro Vancouver are accused of colluding with foreign nationals to make fraudulent claims for refugee protection in Canada. The Canada Border Services Agency says Roger Bhatti of Delta and Sofiane Dahak of Vancouver face more than two dozen charges, including forgery, counselling misrepresentation of facts and use of forged documents. The agency alleges the offences involved people originating from Central Europe and took place between 2002 and 2014. It says in a news release that Bhatti, who is 61, practised as a lawyer and Dahak, who is 52, was an interpreter when the alleged offences occurred. The agency says most of the claimants it reviewed since 2012 were found not to be refugees and were removed from Canada.