April 5th court for accused in fake Truck schools
April 5th, 2023, is the next scheduled court appearance in the fake Truck driving school activities uncovered by police one year ago. Two of the accused have already pleaded guilty and were sentenced to prison time and probation.
Gurpreet Singh; Gurvinder Singh; Charanjit Deol; and Jagjeet Deol are scheduled to appear in court on April 5th, 2023 at the Ottawa Courthouse located at 161 Elgin Street, at 8:30am in Courtroom 14.
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 The remaining counts were withdrawn.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 The remaining counts were withdrawn.
As reported by Road Warrior News (RWN) last spring, “on May 18th Quebec’s Economic Crimes Investigation Service, in collaboration with the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), arrested six 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.”
At that time, 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.
“The focus of this lengthy investigation has been public safety,” said Detective Inspector Daniel Nadeau with the OPP Criminal Investigation Branch. “Tractor-trailers and other commercial vehicles can be deadly in the hands of those with little or unapproved training.”
The investigation focused on fraudulent licensing activities, which circumvented the processes of the Ministry of Transportation and Ministry of Colleges and Universities.
The OPP’s investigation revealed three major components of a serious fraudulent scheme, significantly impacting the safety of Canadian highways:
- use of an interpreter to fraudulently complete required licensing knowledge tests
- non-Ontario residents applying for an Ontario driver’s licence
- circumvention of the Mandatory Entry Level Training (MELT) standard
RWN sent inquiries to Ontario’s Ministry of Colleges requesting the number of career college inspectors the Ministry currently employs, and whether there is a plan to hire more inspectors. At the time of this posting, no reply has been received. RWN will update this article if further information is received.
