New delay puts fake Trucking schools court proceedings over to August 15th, 2023

Criminal court proceedings for individuals charged with operating fake Truck truck driving schools have been delayed again, this time to August 15th, 2023.

Counsel for the defendants and the Crown attorney were present on a Zoom call June 7th to address charges which were laid on May 18th, 2022, when Quebec’s Economic Crimes Investigation Service, in collaboration with the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), arrested 6 individuals from Montreal, Laval and Brampton, Ontario in connection with the production and the use of false documents. The documents allowed foreign clients to obtain driver’s licenses, including licenses to drive heavy goods vehicles.

The suspects allowed their foreign clients to obtain a class 5 (passenger vehicle) and possibly a class 1 (heavy goods vehicle) driver’s license from the SAAQ, using falsified documents.

Another scheme that was uncovered involved individuals operating unlicensed schools and delivering unauthorized training to students in Ontario and Quebec.

Gurvinder Singh, 55, of Laval, Que.; Gurpreet Singh, 33, of Saint Eustache, Que.; Mohammad Khokhar, 66, of Cornwall, Ont.; Jagjeet Deol, 50, of Caledon; Charanjit Kaur Deol, 50, of Caledon; and Hanifa Khokhar, 68, of Cornwall, Ont., were charged with fraud over $5,000.

On June 21, 2022, accused Hanifa Khokhar pleaded guilty to one count of fraud over. On the same date, the accused received a conditional sentence for 2 years less a day and probation for 12 months. The remaining counts were withdrawn. On June 21, 2022, accused Mohammad Khokhar pleaded guilty to one count of fraud over. On the same date, the accused received a conditional sentence for 18 months and probation for 12 months. The remaining counts were withdrawn.

Court proceedings for the remaining men have been ongoing for more than a year since the charges were laid, with little progress except the request for delays and more preparation time. When another delay was requested at the May 24th, 2023 proceedings, Crown Attorney L. Welch noted, “This file is already pretty old.”

Also noted during the May 24th proceedings was the fact that the paralegal speaking for one of the Deol family (Jagjeet or Charanjit) was not certain which of the two men was her client.

When asked to comment on the proceedings, Philip Fletcher, president of the Truck Training Schools Association of Ontario said, “I really can’t say much, as this is a repeat of a rerun.”