Two people accused of executing fraudulent temporary agencies that exploited asylum seekers in Montreal have been sentenced to house arrest for 10 and 18 months.
Beatriz Adriana Guerrero Muñoz, 45, and Héctor López Ramos, 51, appeared in the Quebec court in Montreal on Monday morning to receive the sentences that his lawyers had agreed with the prosecution.
The couple pleaded guilty to reducing charges three days in their trial in April.
López Ramos and Guerrero Muñoz were initially accused of fraud of more than $ 5,000 against the governments of Quebec and Canadian and conspiracy to commit a fraud of more than $ 5,000.
They, together with another man, Héctor Rodríguez Contreras’ hair, 56, directed a scheme of the Quebec Ministry of Labor, said it was the “greatest fraud ever committed” and for which it estimated the losses of the government in around $ 635,000.
The charges of López Ramos and Guerrero Muñoz decreased to the submission of the use of counterfeit documents, including fiscal statements, against the Quebec government.
“This is not the sentence that I would have made, but since two experienced lawyers agreed, I will accept it,” said the judge of the Quebec Court Jean-Jacques Gagné.
Prosecutor Genviève Bélanger later said that the sentences were not as heavy as they would have been for the original positions.
The sentences also took into account that the defendant had saved the government time by shortening the trial with their guilt statements, preventing the prosecution from having to demonstrate the exact monetary value of fraud.
“They were presented and analyzed a huge amount of evidence that the Court could have considered [in the trial]”Due to how many companies, bank accounts and employees supervised, Bélanger said in an interview.
The trio, led by Rodríguez Contreras, led a series of temporary agencies that hired asylum applicants without work permissions and paid them below the minimum cash salary or checks aimed at false identities assigned to them.
The Quebec Ministry of Labor launched probes to agencies early after a 2018 CBC news investigation.
The story revealed that a Haitian asylum applicant was seriously injured at work after being recruited at a Montreal Metro station by the Temp Agencies Network. The man was called a former worker and the Social Security number to work under the table at a meat processing plant outside the city.
A meat cutter, who had barely been shown how to use, cut the upper hand, which requires an emergency skin graft.
López Ramos and Guerrero Muñoz declared themselves innocent, but they changed their statements shortly after the emotional testimony of man in the trial, describing how his life had been affected by the accident, including the pain he still experiences today and the lack of employment opportunities available for him.
López Ramos was sentenced to 18 months of house arrest, followed by two years of probation and 100 hours of community service. The researchers confiscated $ 5,500 and $ 7,000 in cash they found in their belongings.
Guerrero Muñoz was sentenced to only 10 months of house arrest due to his minor role in the management of fraudulent agencies, Bélanger said.
The researchers discovered $ 82,000 in cash and $ 80,000 in two bank accounts, of which it is allowed to maintain 45 percent.
“Part of his business was legitimate, so it is not necessarily all the money that was fraud money,” said the prosecutor.
Rodríguez Contreras, who declared himself guilty before trial, will be sentenced in September.
Bélanger said the Prosecutor’s Office was “satisfied” with the case that ended in guilty statements of the three defendants.
“It is a significant case in terms of fraud against the government, but also [in the interest of] Protecting workers, who, despite committing frauds themselves, are still vulnerable because they are newcomers and do not know much about their rights and even obligations, “he said.
