Singh sentencing did not occur
“No date set at this time” in fake Trucking school trial
The long-awaited sentencing hearing for Gurpreet Singh and Gurvinder Singh scheduled to occur February 14th did not take place.
Road Warrior News assigned a reporter to be at the Ottawa Courthouse early on Friday morning and confirmed with Superior Court of Justice co-ordinator on February 13th that the proceedings were not being cancelled on account of weather.
“It is scheduled to proceed,” the SCJ Trial Co-ordinator wrote RWN in an email at 4:23pm.
However, at 10am on February 14th, R. v Deol et al was not being heard in Courtroom #35. Road Warrior News’ reporter checked every courtroom in the building and found the Singh and Singh sentencing in none of the courtrooms, most of which were empty, he noted.
At 11:45 in response to several RWN inquiries, the trial co-ordinator indicated “It was adjourned to set a new date,” and later, “There is no date set at this time.”
The case began in 2022 when OPP, Surete de Quebec and Canadian Border Security Agents laid charges against six individuals for running what amounted to fake Trucking schools, issuing counterfeit credentials.
On May 18th, 2022, 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.
In two of the cases, the accused pled guilty and were sentenced. 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 The remaining counts were withdrawn.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.
“The focus of this lengthy investigation has been public safety,” said Detective Inspector Daniel Nadeau with the OPP Criminal Investigation Branch at the time of the charges in 2022. “Tractor-trailers and other commercial vehicles can be deadly in the hands of those with little or unapproved training.”
