An employee of the Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program (SINP) has been charged with fraud and money laundering, the RCMP reports.
Tony Dow, a Saskatoon resident, allegedly used his position in the SINP for personal profit.
He is accused of financial crimes committed between April 2015 and July 2022.
Dow is said to have stolen more than $650,000 from program participants, including foreign workers and local companies. He falsified documents, accessed government databases illegally, and laundered the criminally obtained money. This is an egregious breach of trust, as the RCMP emphasizes, noting that integrity is the foundation of public service (I’m beginning to think it might be the time to stop blindly trusting the government officials).
Dow faces charges of:
· fraud over $5,000,
· money laundering,
· accepting bribes as a public servant,
· breach of trust, and
· possession of property obtained by crime.
Because the entire set of offences is classified as organized criminal activity, the case is moving quickly: the charges took place on April 29th, the arrest happened on May 5th, followed by the first court appearance on May 20th.
The Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program, which handles more than 90% of the province’s economic immigration, links foreign workers with local employers.
The program was recently relaunched with stricter criteria after Ottawa cut provincial quotas.
This case is shocking: we usually hear about fraud by lawyers or (more often) by “fake consultants,” but it’s a government employee here!
Using personal data for self - interest purposes and the falsification of documents completely undermined trust in the system. The trial will likely wrap up quickly due to the nature of the organized crime.
When the sentence is handed down, I’ll post an update (I’m curious what the ruling will be. Typically they impose a lifetime ban on holding public office...well, he won’t need that anymore, plus fines, a suspended sentence, or perhaps real jail time. We’ll see.)
Oleksandra Melnykova, Immigration and Refugee Consultant in Canada.
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