Simulate an entire life in Montreal to fraudulently obtain Canadian citizenship? This is what a Quebec immigration consultant offered Turkish families a “very profitable” scheme. Georges Massoud was sentenced Monday to two years in house arrest and a fine of $125,000.
Posted at 5:00 a.m.
False tax returns, bogus school records, fictitious companies, etc. Georges Massoud and his accomplices manufactured whole lives for their clients in Quebec. The smallest detail was crucial to make the Canadian authorities believe that these immigrants were well anchored in the country. However, it was all a scam to allow them to keep their permanent residence or obtain the Holy Grail: Canadian citizenship.
From 2007 to 2015, the 63-year-old Montrealer lined his pockets by helping around fifty people from 14 Turkish families fool Canadian authorities. Out of $617,000 collected by Canimco Inc., his immigration consulting firm, Georges Massoud and his accomplices obtained $331,000.
Arrested in 2016 after a two-year investigation, Georges Massoud was found guilty in November 2021 of nine counts under the Criminal Code and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, including counts of fraud, conspiracy and assisting someone to make a false statement relating to a passport. He was acquitted on one count.
Common suggestion
On Monday, at the Montreal courthouse, Judge André Perreault endorsed the joint suggestion of lawyers and imposed on the former immigration consultant a sentence of two years less a day of imprisonment at home, followed by probation. two years. Georges Massoud will have 18 months to pay a fine of $125,000 if he wishes to avoid an additional two years in prison. He then undertook to withdraw his notice of appeal.
Judge Perreault’s 138-page river decision rendered last year details the great complexity of Georges Massoud’s fraudulent scheme.
The clients of the Quebec fraudster began their immigration process in Turkey through UTC, a Turkish company run by a longtime friend of Georges Massoud. Once they obtained their permanent residence, Georges Massoud’s objective was to simulate their presence in Canada to maintain their status. Some clients have succeeded in obtaining their Canadian citizenship.
You should know that the law requires a permanent resident to stay at least 730 days in Canada over a period of five years – with some exceptions – to maintain their status.
Georges Massoud was an expert at twisting reality in order to make the authorities believe that his clients respected this rule, as they continued their lives in Turkey.
To maintain the illusion of an active life in Canada, Georges Massoud and his company Canimco spared no effort: they created false addresses for their customers, organized the collection of their mail, paid their current accounts in their name, obtained health insurance and driver’s license cards, etc.
Georges Massoud thus attached great importance to details so that his clients were not unmasked during immigration controls. For example, he showed family members around a fictitious address previously provided in order to prepare them to answer questions from the authorities about their previous working life in Canada.
bogus companies
Meticulous care was also taken by Georges Massoud to respect the number of days allegedly spent by his clients in the country. For example, Canimco staff filled out their Canadian customs declaration cards for a family in order to mention fictitious departure dates prior to the issuance of passports.
For some clients, empty front companies were created from scratch, giving them the illusion of working in Canada. Convenience invoices prepared or proposed by Georges Massoud and Canimco fueled the fictitious activities of these bogus companies.
Several client families of Georges Massoud still hold their permanent residence to this day, Mr.e Marie-Ève Parent, Federal Crown Prosecutor. “But they didn’t come back [au pays]. If they come back, Immigration will be alerted. They may lose their residency,” she explained. His colleagues M.e Josée Pratte and M.e Caroline Cloutier led the case at trial.
The conviction of Georges Massoud will henceforth prevent him from having his certificate of immigration adviser, according to the defense. Anyway, the Montrealer has since recycled himself in “importing goods from Egypt”, explained Me Luc Trempe.
Note that his accomplice Fatma Iscan had already been sentenced to 15 months in home prison because of his lesser involvement.