A Canadian man and his girlfriend are being investigated by Indian police for facilitating fake marriages between foreigners and Indians seeking to immigrate to Canada. Joginder Singh,50, and his Canadian accomplice Queenie Nigen were arrested by Delhi Police on charges of cheating Jalandhar-based businessman Amrik Singh of a million rupees (about C$26,181). The arrests were made following a complaint by Amrik Singh.

Joginder had claimed he would enable Amrik to get Canadian citizenship by arranging his marriage to Queenie, local media reported. Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Praveer Ranjan said: “Joginder and Queenie appear to have cheated two or three more people based in Punjab in a similar manner and we are trying to trace them.”

The duo visited India on several occasions and stayed in Punjab. Explaining their modus operandi, another senior police officer said: “Joginder always volunteered to help people who wanted to get job in Canada. Initially he suggested they should marry a Canadian woman and then he gave them the idea of marrying his friend Queenie.”

In the present case, Amrik agreed to marry Queenie and paid C$13,091 to Singh as a “commission”. After the marriage earlier this year, Joginder left for Canada with Nigen, saying he needed her there to arrange a visa for Amrik. Amrik received no further communications from Joginder, who had told him that he would return to India soon.

A few months later, Joginder met Amrik in Delhi and said the Canadian authorities had refused to grant him a visa. “Joginder told Amrik that his migration could still be possible if he became a magician,” said the officer. Joginder even took Amrik to a magician for training and asked him to shell out another C$14,400.

As soon as he received this money from Amrik, Joginder returned to Canada.

Amrik then approached Delhi Police. The duo was arrested when they went back to India to look for more victims. An inquiry revealed that there were some more similar complaints against Joginder in Punjab.