Police allege Imelda “Mel” Fronda Saluma, 46, was behind a massive scam that bilked more than $2.3 million from 600 prospective Filipino immigrants.
Cole Burston
Agnes Aquino is one of hundreds of alleged victims of an immigration fraud that targeted people from several countries with hopes of working in Canada.
By: Nicholas Keung Immigration reporter, Alyshah Hasham Staff Reporter, Marco Chown Oved Staff Reporter, Published on Tue May 05 2015
They came from all around the world and shared the same dream: securing a job in Canada, becoming a permanent resident and ultimately reuniting with their families.
The $5,000 price tag was hefty: $1,500 for the job match, $2,000 for an employment contract and a positive government labour market opinion, and a final installment of $1,500 when the work visa was issued.
Word of mouth in the close-knit Filipino community guided people to Imelda “Mel” Fronda Saluma, who was trusted because she was Filipino like them.
Police allege hundreds were then stranded around the world without papers or money. Others were rejected by Immigration Canada and prohibited from reapplying for two years.
On Tuesday, Toronto police accused Saluma, 46, of being behind a massive scam that bilked more than $2.3 million from 600 prospective Filipino immigrants.
The mother of four was charged in February and had more fraud-related offences added last week. She now faces 73 charges involving allegedly selling forged employment documents to foreigners so they could apply to come to Canada as temporary foreign workers.
Police say the ongoing investigation still hasn’t uncovered the full extent of the alleged racket.
Saluma was ordered to remain in jail Tuesday. Her lawyer declined comment to the Star.
Saluma ran GoWest Jobs International on Finch Ave. W., just east of Keele St. with a sole staffer: Rose Fabe Walters, a.k.a. Rosemarie Walters. According to one victim’s allegations, clients were convinced of GoWest’s legitimacy by the happy smiles they saw on Facebook of Filipino workers the agency claimed to have brought to Canada in 2012 to pick green peppers on a Cambridge farm.
Agnes Aquino said she is out $24,500, money she claimed she paid Saluma and Walters to bring her brother and other relatives to Canada in August 2012.
“Even though we always had to pay in cash, we didn’t suspect anything. We all came from the Philippines. We had this blind faith and trusted they also wanted to help others to come here,” said Aquino, who came to Canada in 2001 as a live-in caregiver.
“I was trying to help my relatives. They remitted me the money and I paid Rose (Walters). My relatives are angry at me and blame it on me. I don’t trust anyone anymore, even when I really want to help.”
Angry clients flocked to an online forum where recruiters who had never met each other began to realize the sheer size of the alleged scam. Aquino says she and nine other agents took their client lists and paperwork to Toronto Police last October.
The current GoWest investigation goes back only to July 1, 2012. Police believe Saluma may have been operating under a different corporate name before that date, but haven’t received any complaints from that time period.
People living in the Philippines, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, the United Arab Emirates, Israel and the United Kingdom were all allegedly drawn in, said Det. Erwin Mendoza. Some were already living in Canada and were allegedly promised visa extensions or permanent residency.
Mendoza said he didn’t know of anyone who was successfully issued a visa using the documents.
But Rose Grey, a singer from Windsor who says she recruited clients for Saluma from her home province of Nueva Ecija, Philippines, says four of the approximately 100 people she assisted have actually made it into Canada.
Grey alleges Saluma provided her with documents promising immigrants jobs at McDonald’s, Holiday Inn, Pizza Hut and Tim Hortons, and paid her a $150 commission per person.
“She convinced me and I convinced my people,” she said.
Grey, who complained to police and has not been charged, says she never saw any original documents, only passed along photocopies or scanned attachments by email.
“She would have an LMO (labour market opinion) for 50 people and then sell it to 300 or 500 people,” she alleged. “When we were all in the (police) precinct, we all had the same documents.”
“She would ask people for a favour to cash a cheque,” Det. Mendoza alleged. “A couple of days later, it would come back as NSF, closed account or fraudulent.”
There seems to have been some overlap between the two scams, he said. “Some recruiters were duped into the cheque cashing scheme and lost $3,000–$6,000. Others had nothing to do with it,” Mendoza alleged. Halton Region police have also laid charges involving cheque cashing.
According to a tenant at the Finch Ave. W. building where GoWest operated, the company moved there from a different location in Burlington in 2013 and closed down in early 2014.
“I’m a victim, too,” said the neighbour, who says she referred more than 20 relatives and friends to GoWest. “They paid me to pay her for the applications. They all think I’m the bad guy. I gave their money back out of my own pocket because it’d hurt my reputation. I’m still out $32,000.”
Grey says she has paid tens of thousands of dollars out of her own pocket back to Saluma’s alleged victims, but she can’t reimburse everyone.
“I feel awful,” she said. “The people back home are so mad at me. I didn’t own the company, but I’m the face they know.”
Rosemarie Walters, 55, has been charged with possession of stolen property over $5,000. Her lawyer declined to comment for the story.
Police believe there may be other victims.
