Five people in the Greater Toronto Area have been charged with identity theft and forgery in an alleged scam involving the federal temporary foreign worker program.
The RCMP say the charges stem from a year-long investigation into allegations that some people who work at a foreign worker recruitment and placement agency, called Platinum Care, used falsified documents to create fake offers of employment to foreign workers.
Police allege the suspects are responsible for bringing 53 people to Canada “under fraudulent means.”
“It is alleged that the accused persons would use various methods of identity theft to obtain personal information from unsuspecting Canadians,” the Mounties said in a news release Wednesday.
“The accused would then use this personal information to create fictitious employment offers for foreign workers.”
Five people have been charged with “numerous counts” of identity theft, forgery and uttering forged documents. They have been released from police custody on certain conditions and are scheduled to appear in a Toronto court on Aug. 6.
The accused, all from the Greater Toronto Area, are:
- CEO of Platinum Care Rosanna Lim, 51
- Leahnette Acuna, 50
- Shannon Lim, 25
- Normita Mandoza, 58
- Fazeina Sarlat, 52
Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact the Ontario RCMP at 1-800-387-0020, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
