Immigration Consultant responds to allegations

Jan 26, 2009 News

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Canadian visa scam…

In the wake of allegations of fraud by several persons who were reportedly conned out of large sums of money by persons claiming to be in a position to obtain Canadian Student Visas, Immigration Consultant Balwant Persaud has disassociated himself from the scheme.
Several persons, including Seesahai Mohan who had contacted this newspaper, have alleged that they had initially paid huge sums of money to Persaud for him to procure the visas.
However, at some stage of the arrangement, Persaud had put them on to his associate, Alim Samad, who collected further amounts with the promise of securing the visas.
But in a letter to this newspaper, Persaud, who is based in Canada, claims that he is no longer responsible for any losses suffered by those persons whom he had initially engaged.
The following is the full text of Persaud’s letter to this newspaper:
“I terminated my agreement with Mr. Mohan and about eight other persons on July 5th 2008. I had a meeting with these persons and Alim Samad at my office on July 5th 2008. Alim Samad was initially contracted to handle their cases for student visas. I told Mr. Mohan and the others initially that I am in no position to handle their cases, and that Alim Samad is the one who will do it for them.
I signed a written contract with Mr. Mohan and the others to protect them.
I also signed a written agreement with Alim Samad for refunds if he is unsuccessful.  At that meeting with Mr. Mohan, Alim Samad and the others, I told them I will be terminating my agreements with them, and if they want they can get a full refund immediately. If they wanted, they can continue with Alim Samad and signed an agreement with Alim Samad, and any fees paid will be transferred to Alim Samad.
All of them, except three persons, said they will deal with Alim Samad. The three persons who said they wanted their refunds got it immediately. Mr. Mohan and a few others declined a refund and said they will continue dealing with Alim Samad. Documents were prepared terminating my services, new agreements were signed with Alim Samad and fees were transferred to Alim Samad.
All of them looked happy dealing with Alim Samad after the signing of documents. They were warned not to visit my office anymore or to contact me, as I am no longer their representative.
When Mr.Mohan called me in Canada saying that Alim Samad is demanding a further US$5,000 for his daughter’s medical, I advised him to only pay the money over in the presence of his lawyer or a plain clothes policeman.
I never advised his daughter to pay Alim Samad any money or to trust him, as stated in your article. They went ahead and pay Alim Samad in some restaurant without taking my advice.
A few weeks later, he called me and asked me what to do. I advised him to report the matter to the police and also see his lawyer. He did contact his lawyer, Mr. Vidyanand Persaud, but I do not know if he reported the matter to the police.
I provided his lawyer with all the necessary documentation and explanations that he requested.   Mr. Mohan’s lawyer made many attempts to recover the money paid to Alim Samad, but he was just given empty promises.
According to Mr. Mohan, Alim Samad had agreed to refund him, but never showed up at his lawyer’s office, after many promises to show up.
When I returned to Guyana in November 2008, I dispatched a letter to the Canadian High Commission about this matter. I also gave a statement to the police at Brickdam Police Station in connection with this matter and the attack on my place in Georgetown.
These people should have taken their refunds when it was offered to them by me, but they wanted to bend the rules and went ahead at their own free will to deal with Alim Samad.”
Persaud provided several supporting documents to clear his name, and believes that he should have been given the opportunity to make his comments before this newspaper published the initial article on the issue.
One of the persons who had paid the initial sum of money to Persaud rebuffed his explanations.
The victim pointed out that since, as the immigration consultant claimed, he initially indicated that he was in no position to obtain the visas, why did he take the initial CDN$5000 deposit?
“He’s a consultant. So why didn’t he advise us in the first place of that?”
This newspaper understands that Persaud had a falling out with Samad, and this led to the confusion that now obtains.
Those who have contacted this newspaper are preparing to give statements to the police, so that criminal proceedings can be started against the alleged fraudsters.

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