| Father mortgages house for visaFifty-eight-year-old furniture maker Seesahai Mohan so much wanted a better life for his daughter, Nadira, that when he was told that she could get a student visa to study in Canada, Mohan took the cash he had planned to use to repair his house, and further mortgaged the property to facilitate the arrangement.But after almost a year, his daughter, Nadira,NFL Jerseys Cheap, is still in Guyana, and Mohan is $2M poorer, having created a debt which he is at pains to repay. It turned out that he had been duped by an elaborate scheme concocted by people who claim to be immigration consultants.Early last year, Mohan received an invitation letter from a relative in Canada for him and his family to attend a funeral there.The furniture maker, not knowing the procedure to obtain a Canadian visa, sought the assistance of Canadian Immigration Consultant Balwant Persaud, who had advertised in the local dailies.According to Mohan, the immigration consultant advised him that it would be very difficult for him to obtain visas for the family, but it would be simpler for his daughter to qualify for a student visa.Mohan was elated with this piece of information, and immediately went home to tell his wife the potentially good news. The family agreed that the deal was worth getting into.Mohan and his daughter Nadira visited the consultant, and were informed that the procedure will cost Cdn $10,Wholesale Authentic Jerseys,000.They were shown a contract that stipulated the terms of the agreement.According to the contract, which was eventually signed by Mohan’s daughter, the agreement is governed by, and shall be construed in accordance with, Canadian law.It also stipulated that the consultant undertakes to represent his client in a timely and professional manner with the Canadian Government, and to make all representations on the client’s behalf with the relevant embassy.It warned that all relevant documents must be submitted to the consultant when required by the Canadian Embassy, failing which it can jeopardize the application.According to the contract, a deposit of CDN$5000 had to be paid to commence the transaction, and the additional CDN$5000 would be required when medicals or the visa is received, whichever is earlier.Should the student permit not be granted, the consultant is obliged to refund the total sum minus US$100, which is a non-refundable school registration fee, according to the contract.All of this appeared to make the arrangement authentic; and having been convinced, Mohan paid over the CDN$5000 to Balwant Persaud on April 7, 2008, and his daughter signed the contract and handed over her passport.Everything was now in place,Cheap Jerseys From China, and Mohan and his daughter waited for the promised visa.Mohan was even convinced to make out a money order to ‘the Receiver General of Canada’ to the tune of CDN$125 at a local bank, in what now appears to be an attempt to make the arrangement appear more genuine.To this day, that money is still lodged at the local bank.Nadira Mohan, a clerk at a local clothing store in the city, was planning to study Culinary Management and was accepted at the Humber Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning in Canada.By this time, everything appeared to be going according to plan, and neither Mohan nor his daughter suspected that anything was amiss.But then, in July last year, something strange occurred that aroused some suspicion from the victims.Nadira Mohan was made to sign a document which terminated her arrangement with Balwant Persaud and asked to transfer such arrangement with one Alim Samad.According to the document, Balwant Persaud was no longer her representative for processing her application for a Canadian student visa.It stated that the initial fees paid to Persaud were transferred to a new representative, Alim Samad, of 129 Barr Street, Kitty.Samad was now contracted to process the woman’s college acceptance in Canada and to deal with the Canadian High Commission on her behalf, since he was contracted initially by Balwant Persaud to handle the matter.Although they sensed that something was wrong, Mohan and his daughter cautiously went ahead with the arrangement.They were then asked to pay the additional CDN$5000 before the required medical examination is done,Wholesale NFL Jerseys, but there were some suspicions on their part and the money was withheld.“Samad told us to reach him at Club Oasis. But we learnt that he had told several other persons to meet him at different locations, and we became very suspicious, so we contacted Balwant Persaud in Canada, seeking some advice. At first he told us not to call him back because he had handed over our transaction to Alim Samad,” Nadira Mohan told this newspaper.However, according to the woman, Persaud subsequently called them back and urged them to trust Samad and pay the money, pointing out that “everything will be alright.”Eventually, Samad contacted them and they reluctantly handed over CDN$4750.“I told him, ‘Please tell me if this is a fraud’. He said, No,” ‘” Nadira Mohan stated.For a short period, they could not contact Samad, despite calling his home and cellular phones repeatedly.Eventually contact was made, and Samad invited Nadira Mohan to a laboratory of his choice to conduct the medical examination.There was a clause in the initial contract which stated that, if the applicant failed the medical examination, the deposits that were made will not be refunded.So, in light of this, Nadira Mohan was not too inclined o go to the laboratory suggested by Samad, and insisted that she seeks the services of her trusted doctor.She was becoming very anxious, since she was told that the medical form would become invalid two months after it was issued and that time was running out.By this time, the Mohans were convinced that something was terribly wrong, and seriously contemplated withdrawing from the arrangement.“I asked him (Samad) to give me back my money but he had very harsh words to say to me,” Nadira Mohan informed.She said that since late last year, all efforts to contact Samad proved futile, since the man has reportedly been constantly changing his telephone number.“He threatened us, claiming that if we take the story further ‘it could get very heated’. He told us that if we tell anyone about this matter ‘head gon buss’. So we went to a lawyer,” the woman added.She claimed that Samad acknowledged to the attorney that he had collected the money from the Mohans and had promised to repay it.But an attempt to get him to sign a document to that effect was unsuccessful.The man even tried to get Mohan to sign a document relieving him of any financial obligation.On another occasion, when the Mohans caught up with Samad, he warned them not to complain to the Canadian High Commission.“He said that if we go, they (Canadians) will take us to Canada for free and jail us,” the woman told this newspaper.The young woman and her father have since reported the matter to the police, who have launched an investigation.From all appearances, Samad and Balwant Persaud fell out of favour,Cheap NHL Jerseys, with Persaud accusing Samad of attempted murder and shooting at his place of residence in Guyana.A letter which was sent by Persaud to the Commissioner of Police,Cheap NFL Football Jerseys, and which was seen by this newspaper, has claimed that Samad had boasted that he and senior police officers were close friends and nothing can happen to him.Persaud claimed that this situation had forced him to flee Guyana.Many Guyanese, in their desperation to seek a better life for themselves and families,NFL Jerseys Clearance, have paid huge sums of money to persons who claim that they are in a position to obtain the required visas.Some of them have succeeded in reaching their intended destinations, while others have lost a lot.But, for now, the 58-year-old Seesahai Mohan will have to work to repay the money that he had borrowed from the bank to facilitate the arrangement, although he accrued no benefit. |
