Four Richmondites on trial for allegedly falsifying immigration information for 67 people

Chang and Gu are charged with misrepresenting 67 people as nominees of the Yukon Business Immigration Nominee program, a program that allows potential immigrants to set up a business in the territory and, after two years, apply for permanent residency status in Canada.

Liu and Gu are charged with misrepresenting applicants for permanent residency. Liu is also charged with knowingly using forged documents.

Chang, Gu and Liu are all charged with offering a “reward, advantage or benefit” to a Yukon government official, Ian David Young, or to his family, to help “influence” the business immigrant process.

According to Yukon RCMP, Young died in November 2020.

The allegations against the four Richmond residents date from July 2013 to September 2016 and are alleged to have taken place in Richmond, Whitehorse, Yuk., and Sydney, N.S.

The investigation into the scheme began in 2015, after suspicious documents submitted as part of permanent residency applications, were identified by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) officials.

The documents appeared to be nomination certificates, issued by the Government of Yukon under the Yukon Business Nominee Program, CBSA explained at the time the charges were laid.

However, the Yukon government confirmed the documents were false and had not been issued by their office.

CBSA then executed several search warrants in B.C. and Yukon to find evidence of the alleged scheme.

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More than 50 alleged victims join immigration fraud lawsuit against Richmond company

Immigration applications submitted on behalf of Chinese residents were denied for containing “false or invalid” certificates

Vikki Hui，Jun 23, 2023 12:00 PM

Chinese residents are suing a Richmond company for failed immigration applications. Rob Kruyt/Business in Vancouver

Dozens of victims of an alleged immigration fraud scheme have joined a lawsuit against a group of Richmond residents and their consultancy business.

The lawsuit against the Richmond-based business was started in the B.C. Supreme Court by a Chinese immigration company in 2016, which claimed a loss of more than $4 million from Chinese clients.

The consultancy business — USA-Canada International Investment Inc. (UCII) — and its directors, Tzu Chun Joyce Chang, Xunfan Jiang and Yueming Zeng, are all listed as defendants of the lawsuit along with other related parties.

The victims had applied to a business nomination program in Yukon with UCII’s help, but their applications were denied after Canadian immigration officers told them their nomination certificates, allegedly issued by Yukon government officials, were “false or invalid.”

Some victims were banned from re-applying to immigrate to or visit Canada for five years.

The victims had heard about the Yukon program from Ningbo Zhelun Overseas Immigration Service Co. Ltd., the Chinese company behind the current lawsuit.

According to court documents, Zhelun claimed Chang approached it in 2013 about a “re-defined” business nomination program in Yukon with easier requirements for applicants to fulfill.

The two entered into a cooperation agreement in 2014 where UCII would prepare the applications, obtain permanent residency and fulfill the program requirements for Zhelun’s clients in exchange for an application fee of $50,000 per application.

UCII was required to provide a refund plus interest if it failed to perform its part of the contract.

Zhelun told the court it marketed the program to potential clients from 2014 to 2015 and gave UCII more than $4 million from its Chinese clients. The total amount was subsequently increased and the lawsuit now involves alleged investments of more than $10 million, according to court documents.

Zhelun’s clients are not the only ones involved in the lawsuit, as a B.C. company, Mega International Labor and Immigration Services Inc., claims it also sent its clients to UCII through an arrangement with Zhelun.

Clients to join lawsuit

According to court documents, the alleged victims are asking for an undetermined amount of damages and interest. They also want to ban UCII and other defendants from getting rid of assets and properties related to the case.

UCII had allegedly told Zhelun it was unable to provide a refund on request “because it had invested the funds in various businesses” in accordance with the requirements of the Yukon program.

In a recent application to master John Bilawich, the two plaintiff companies, Zhelun and Mega, asked to add 56 clients as plaintiffs for the case because the two companies did not have the authority to pursue their clients’ claims as their own.