An Indo-Canadian lawyer, who is the son of Kesar Bhatti, the former president of the Khalsa Diwan Society and instrumental in the building of the Sikh Temple on Ross Street in Vancouver, has been jailed for 22 months after being found guilty of immigration fraud. Balraj Singh “Roger” Bhatti pleaded guilty to 17 charges including forgery and the misrepresentation of facts. The CBSA investigated fraudulent refugee claims made by Bhatti, 63 now, of Delta, and Sofiane Dahak of Vancouver and found that the pair colluded with foreign nationals to misrepresent claims for refugee protection before the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada between February 2002 and March 2014. Bhatti has deep ties to the Indo-Canadian pioneer and political community. His wife’s sister is married to former BC Minister and pioneering Indo-Canadian politician Moe Sihota, who provided a letter of support for Bhatti who claimed he was under heavy stress from his law practice.

By DESIBUZZCanada Staff

​​​​​​​SURREY – An Indo-Canadian lawyer, who is the son of Kesar Bhatti, the former president of the Khalsa Diwan Society and instrumental in the building of the Sikh Temple on Ross Street in Vancouver, has been jailed for 22 months after being found guilty of immigration fraud.

Balraj Singh “Roger” Bhatti pleaded guilty to 17 charges including forgery and the misrepresentation of facts.

Bhatti, 63, was charged in 2020 and accused of colluding with foreign nationals to make fraudulent claims for refugee protection in Canada. He was suspended by the Law Society of British Columbia at that time.

Balraj Singh Roger Bhatti pleaded guilty to 8 counts of s.127(a) of the IRPA – Misrepresentation, 3 counts of s.366(1)(b) of the Criminal Code – Forgery, and 6 counts of s.368(1)(b) of the Criminal Code – Use, Trafficking or Possession of Forged Document. 

The CBSA investigated fraudulent refugee claims made by Bhatti, 63 now, of Delta, and Sofiane Dahak of Vancouver and found that the pair colluded with foreign nationals to misrepresent claims for refugee protection before the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada between February 2002 and March 2014. 

According to Border Services, the pair colluded with foreign nationals to misrepresent claims for refugee protection before the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada between February 2002 and March 2014.

Border Services officials began investigating Bhatti and Dahak in 2012 and executed search warrants on June 4, 2014.

Most of the refugee claimants were found not to be typical refugees and were removed from Canada, according to CBSA.

 “Canada’s refugee system assists people who are forced to flee their countries because of a well-founded fear of persecution. Trying to ‘game the system’ by falsification and misrepresentation of information is not only illegal, but delays the processing of genuine refugees in need of protection,” says Nina Patel, with CBSA.

“This is a serious issue and the CBSA is committed to holding offenders accountable.”

Bhatti was charged under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act with:

*eight counts of misrepresenting material facts in relation to refugee claims;

*counselling misrepresentation of material facts in relation to refugee claims;

*four counts of forgery;

*seven counts of use of a forged document.

In his reasons for sentencing, recently posted online, B.C. Provincial Court Judge Mark Jetté wrote that at the time of the offences Bhatti was one of the busiest lawyers in the Lower Mainland representing clients seeking convention refugee status, reported CBC News.

The court found that Bhatti forged notes in the name of his family physician and others saying clients were unwell in a bid to adjourn or postpone hearings with the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB).

The notes often said that a client suffered a heart attack, loss of hearing or had kidney stones. The physicians whose letterhead was used for the documents testified in court that they had not prepared them.

The court said that Bhatti “submitted Hungarian police reports and/or medical records which he knew to be false, with the intention of inducing the IRB to make a finding in favour of his clients.”

Bhatti’s lawyers, including former B.C. attorney general Wally Oppal, asked for a conditional sentence for their client, who had no prior criminal convictions.

A conditional sentence was denied by Jetté due to the “seriousness of these offences,” he wrote.

“The fact that Mr. Bhatti was acting in his capacity as a lawyer throughout, the impact Mr. Bhatti’s conduct has had on the integrity of the convention refugee system in this country, and Mr. Bhatti’s high degree of moral blameworthiness call for a sentence of institutional jail.”

Bhatti has deep ties to the Indo-Canadian pioneer and political community. His wife’s sister is married to former BC Minister and pioneering Indo-Canadian politician Moe Sihota, who provided a letter of support for Bhatti who claimed he was under heavy stress from his law practice.

Bhatti’s father, Kesar, was president of the Khalsa Diwan Society and instrumental in the building of the Sikh Temple on Ross Street in Vancouver. His wife, Debbie Parhar, was a special assistant in Mike Harcourt’s office when he was B.C. premier. She later became Bhatti’s office bookkeeper.

“He is part of a close-knit Indo-Canadian community; his reputation within that community in particular has been damaged, likely beyond repair,” wrote Jetté. “His wife has suffered and will continue to suffer as a result of his actions.”

Jetté also considered aggravating factors in the sentencing, writing that creating false medical and police reports, “was a sophisticated and premeditated course of conduct which continued over a period of years, and impacted multiple claims.”

Bhatti’s partner-in-crime Dahak entered guilty pleas in mid-June 2021, and received a conditional sentence of two years less a day with conditions that included house arrest for the first eight months, a curfew for the next eight months and 100 community work hours. He was also fined $14,000, reported CBC News.

The CBSA said in 2020 that most of the claimants from Bhatti and Dahak’s offences were found not to be refugees and were removed from Canada.