Four women are facing fraud charges in connection with a large immigration sponsorship scam in Peel region in which dozens of people from the Middle East were targeted.
Sakia Mojadiddi, 61, a Mississauga woman who allegedly heads the ARR,
Morassa Rizvi, 32, of Brampton, Dunya Mojadiddi, 26, of Mississauga, and Mariam Qureshi, 36, of Bradford, have been charged with defrauding the public, conspiracy to defraud the public and possession of proceeds of crime.
All have been released on bail and will appear in court in Brampton on March 12.
According to Peel Regional Police, 38 people have come forward and investigators allege the group bilked residents out of nearly $800,000 so far.
Police say in July 2017, a complainant contacted police to report that they paid large sums of money to the Afghan Refugee Relief (ARR) organization to assist in sponsoring family members wishing to immigrate to Canada from Afghanistan.
The head of the company accepted money but never processed the paperwork through the Canada Border Services Agency and Citizenship and Immigration Canada, police said.
Police said that after a significant delay and once the victims learned that their paperwork was never processed, the president “refused to reimburse” the funds paid for the service.
On October 20, 2017, investigators sought the public’s help in identifying further victims in relation to ARR organization and as a result, 38 people contacted police.
Victims consisted of individuals from the Middle East, Europe, North America, with eight victims in the Region of Peel. Investigators estimate that the total amount defrauded is approximately $780,000.00.
