The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday said it is investigating the “involvement” of some Canadian colleges and a few Indian entities in a money laundering case linked to the trafficking of Indians into the United States from the Canada border.  The investigation is linked to the death of a four-member Indian family, hailing from Dingucha village of Gujarat. The four died of extreme cold while trying to illegally cross the Canada-US border on January 19, 2022.

The ED took cognisance of an Ahmedabad Police FIR against Bhavesh Ashokbhai Patel, who emerged as the main accused in the matter, and a few others, to file a complaint under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Patel and others have “hatched a well-planned conspiracy to send people (Indians) to the USA through Canada via illegal channels thereby committing the offence of human trafficking,” it said.

The agency had earlier found that as part of the racket, the accused “arranged” admission for people, desirous to go to the US illegally, in colleges and universities based in Canada. A Canadian student visa was applied for such people and once they reached that country, instead of joining the college, they “illegally” crossed the US-Canada border and never joined the Canadian college, the agency said in a statement.  “In view of this, the fee received by colleges based in Canada was remitted back to the individuals’ account,” said ED, adding that Indians were “lured” into the racket and charged between Rs 55 and Rs 60 lakh per person, according to the ED.

The agency said it undertook fresh searches in this case on December 10 and December 19 at eight locations in Mumbai, Nagpur, Gandhinagar and Vadodara. It was found, the ED said, two “entities”, one based in Mumbai and the other in Nagpur, entered into an “agreement” for admission of Indians in universities based in foreign countries on a commission basis. The agency said the latest searches found that about 25,000 students are being referred by one entity and more than 10,000 students by the other to various colleges based outside India every year.

“Further, it is gathered that there are around 1,700 agents/partners based in Gujarat and around 3,500 agents/partners of other entities all over India out of which around 800 are active. It is further revealed that around 112 colleges based in Canada have entered into an agreement with one entity and more than 150 with another entity. Their involvement in the instant case is under investigation,” the ED said.

The agency suspects that out of the total 262 such colleges in Canada, a few, which are geographically located near the Canada-US border, are involved in the trafficking of Indian nationals. The ED said it froze bank deposits worth Rs 19 lakh, some “incriminating” documents and digital devices, and seized two vehicles in connection with its probe.