Richmond man, Xun Wang, gets 7 years behind bars for illegal immigration scheme

A Richmond, B.C., man who made millions helping hundreds of people file fraudulent immigration applications was sentenced to seven years in prison and fined more than $900,000 in provincial court today.

Crown prosecutor Jessica Patterson said Xun Wang, 46, received two fines one for $187,000 and one for $730,000 and she said the prison term will be reduced by several months for time already served.

Patterson said the judge "intended to send a message that these kinds of activities are not going to be tolerated."

"He clearly picked up on the large scale of this operation and the scope of it. It occurred over a number of years and was very sophisticated and very planned, and that appears to be the reason," said Patterson outside the Vancouver provincialcourthouse on Friday morning.

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) told CBC that they will follow up on the case.

"Immigration fraud is a criminal offence in Canada and damages the integrity of our immigration system. The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) works closely with its domestic and international partners to identify, investigate and prosecute, to the fullest extent, those who violate our immigration laws."

Profitable enterprise

According to court records Wang ran two profitable but unlicensed immigration consulting businesses in Vancouver from 2006 to 2014 called New Can Consultants Ltd. and Wellong International Investments Ltd.

After he was arrested last year, the married father of two pleaded guilty to 15 charges, including illegal immigration consulting, misrepresentation, forgery, fraud, illegally obtaining tax credits and tax evasion.

Wang's profitable enterprises included creating fake Chinese passports and misrepresenting clients so it would appear they have Canadian addresses and phone numbers when they actually lived in China.

Wang admitted in court that he took these stepsin order to create the fictitious appearance of Canadian residency for his clients so they could maintain permanent resident status and obtain Canadian citizenship.

Business records showed up to 1,200 people paid $10 million for Wang'sservices. Patterson said it was not yet clear what measures the Canada Border Services Agency would take to follow up on the 1,200 potentially fraudulent immigration applications.

Seven people who worked for Wang were charged in the case. Five are set to appear in court next month. Two are wanted on outstanding warrants.