9th person sentenced in largest immigration fraud case in Canadian history

A man found to be a key player in a passport fraud scheme used to help Chinese clients cheat Canadian immigration requirements has been sentencedto 20 months in jail and fined$44,659 for tax evasion in B.C. provincial court.

Xiao Feng "Heki" He pleaded guilty to one charge each of fraud, forgery, and tax evasion,and four charges under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

He's offences relate to 151 clients ofNew Can Consultants Ltd. He worked asan unlicensed immigration consultant for New Can and was heavily involved in the company's China office.

He is the ninth person to be sentenced in what isthe single biggest immigration scam in Canadian history, involving over 1,600 clients.

A thousand former clients of the company have so far lost their immigration status or been reported as inadmissible under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. Other cases are still pending.

Between 2006 and2013,clients collectively paid New Can $10 million to obtain residency and Canadian citizenship. New Can used illegal methodssuch as false passport entries, fakejob offers and bogus Canadian home addresses to skirt immigration rules, according to theCanadaBorder ServicesAgency.

In 2015, Xun"Sunny"Wang, the man behind New Can, was sentenced to sevenyears in jail and ordered to pay fines totalling almost $920,000.

Wang was released on early parole in 2017, despite having not paid the fines.

In February of this year, B.C.'s Civil Forfeiture office started going after properties owned by Wang, claiming they were purchased with ill-gotten money andused to launder proceeds of crime.