B. C. firm faces fraud charges

Company accused of making fake jobs for immigrants

A Vancouver immigration consulting firm is alleged to have created fake jobs for foreigners to help them gain permanent resident status, a B. C. Supreme Court ruling reveals.

The Canada Border Service Agency executed search warrants in October 2012 on the Richmond home of Xun Wang, his Vancouver- based business called New Can Consultants and his Richmond- based business, called Wellong International Investments, Ltd.

The Canada Revenue Agency then went to court seeking the documents seized last year by the CBSA.

The April 8 court decision reveals that between Jan. 15, 2007, and Aug. 14, 2012, Wang, New Can and Wellong are alleged to have improperly provided immigration consulting services.

“These allegations involve, among other things, misrepresentations as to the employment status of New Can and Wellong clients so they could maintain their residency status in Canada,” the court decision states.

Ninety boxes of documents and 18 computers were seized after investigators with the CBSA executed search warrants under the Criminal Code and for alleged violations of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, an investigator with the Canada Revenue Agency told Judge A. F. Cullen.

She told Cullen that one of Wang’s corporations would “hire” a client so the client would appear to be an employee of a Canadian corporation working outside of Canada.

The client would allegedly pay Wang or his corporations and this money would then be used to pay the client’s “salary.”

During that time period, Wang reported taxable income averaging $ 14,337 and between 1997 and 2011 the T4 slips issued to employees of New Can and Wellong showed salaries to employees in the $ 15,000 to $ 30,000 range: “low enough to enable the taxpayer to receive a refund of most or all of the taxes remitted by the corporate employer.”

Cullen granted Canada Revenue’s application for access to the material.