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Punjab-origin fraudster pleads guilty of smuggling migrants into US via Canada
A Punjab-origin fraudster, whom the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) investigated as part of the probe into the death of an Indian family at the Canada-US border last year, pleaded guilty to human smuggling charges in Washington this week, according to local media reports
A Punjab-origin fraudster, whom the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) investigated as part of the probe into the death of an Indian family at the Canada-US border last year, pleaded guilty to human smuggling charges in Washington this week, according to local media reports.
Rajinder Pal Singh admitted to receiving more than 500,000 US dollars (more than ₹4 crore) for his part in co-ordinating a complex human smuggling ring moving migrants into the United States through Canada, CBC News reported.
On January 19 last year, the bodies of three-year-old Dharmik Patel, his 11-year-old sister Vihangi Patel, their mother 37-year-old Vaishali Patel, and their father 39-year-old Jagdish Patel were found in a field east of Emerson, about 100 km south of Winnipeg, according to the CBC News. Singh was arrested in May last year.
In October last year, The Fifth Estate reported that Singh had become a “person of interest” in the Manitoba RCMP investigation into the tragic freezing death of the Patel family on the Canada-US border.
According to a plea agreement in US District Court, Western District of Washington, at Seattle, Singh pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport and harbour certain aliens for profit and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Singh, a 49-year-old Indian citizen living illegally in the US, was previously convicted of bank fraud and forging documents.
“Singh played a key role in the noncitizens smuggling conspiracy,” the plea agreement says, noting that “prior to the unlawful entry of the noncitizens into the United States, Singh would co-ordinate with members of the conspiracy who housed the noncitizens in British Columbia.”
To help migrants navigate their way over the Canadian border, Singh used the Life360 app, which allows users to share their physical location through their cellphone, according to a media report.
Once they made their way into the US, Singh would arrange pickups through the Uber ride share app. Migrants would often be dropped off at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport first, then another Uber would pick them up and drive them to motels or safe houses around the greater Seattle area. Migrants would be driven or flown to their final destinations around the US, according to the plea agreement.
Singh charged up to $11,000 (US) (over ₹9 lakh) per person for his services. His rideshare scheme involved hundreds of trips, using more than 100 different Uber drivers, and cost more than $80,000 ( ₹66 lakh).
