A dark scheme unfolded in Calgary, preying on the hopes and dreams of newcomers to Canada. Three restaurant owners exploited vulnerable temporary foreign workers, convincing them to hand over exorbitant sums for fabricated government fees.
Maninkandan Kasinathan, Chandramoahan Marjak, and Mary Roche, partners in Marina Dosa Tandoori Grill, lured cooks from abroad with promises of employment. But the welcome they received quickly turned into a financial nightmare.
Each worker was told they owed $24,000 for a Labour Market Impact Assessment – a supposed government requirement for their immigration. In reality, the legitimate fee for employers was a mere $1,000.
Parthiban Ramalingam arrived in 2017 and, trusting his employers, paid the full, inflated amount. He toiled as a line cook, burdened by the debt, until he bravely reported the fraud to authorities.
Two other cooks, Venkatesan Durairaj and Vijayasankar Krishnan, managed partial payments of $12,000 and $8,000 respectively, but still lived under the shadow of exploitation.
The court heard chilling details of the pressure tactics used. The owners allegedly threatened to deport the workers if they refused to pay, leveraging their precarious immigration status.
Justice Sandra Mah recognized the profound breach of trust, stating the victims were entirely reliant on their employers for their ability to remain in Canada. The fear of losing their jobs, and their new lives, was a powerful weapon.
Despite pleas for community service, the judge handed down 90-day intermittent sentences – to be served on weekends – to each of the offenders. An 18-month probation period, including a ban on contact with the victims, was also imposed.
The court ordered the trio to fully reimburse the $44,000 they fraudulently obtained, a small measure of justice for those who arrived seeking opportunity, only to face deception and financial hardship.
The case serves as a stark reminder of the vulnerabilities faced by temporary foreign workers and the importance of protecting them from unscrupulous exploitation.
