2015-05-13
Davine Jeffrey
The Chronicle Herald
A preliminary inquiry for a Dartmouth businessman facing 56 charges of immigration fraud will get underway this summer.
Hector Mantolino, 52, owner and operator of Mantolino Property Services Ltd., is accused of taking advantage of 28 temporary foreign workers.
The hearing against Mantolino is expected to take four days beginning July 3 in Dartmouth provincial court.
Canada Border Services Agency alleges that Mantolino paid some cleaners from the Philippines
as little as $3.13 an hour and
told them to lie about their
wages if they wanted to stay in
the country.
Mantolino is accused of violating the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act from July 2009 to April 2013.
The charges allege that he provided false statements to more than one federal government department about the workers’ employment conditions and that he developed false businesses and fraudulently submitted documents to Service Canada, Citizenship and Immigration Canada and the Nova Scotia Office of Immigration. The border agency also alleges Mantolino told workers to provide misleading and untruthful statements on their work permit applications.
Each charge carries a maximum penalty of a $100,000 fine and five years in prison. The accused has elected trial before a Nova Scotia Supreme Court jury.
Construction trades helpers and labourers
Cas d’abus documentés
Nouvelle-Écosse
Anglais