- Delhi Police arrested a Punjab consultant for cheating a woman of Rs 1.83 crore through fake Canadian investment schemes.
- U.S. authorities are cracking down on fraud involving lawyer impersonation, OPT employment scams, and fraudulent asylum claims.
- A new rule effective July 2026 allows USCIS to deny benefits for fraudulent signatures discovered after application acceptance.
(DERA BASSI, PUNJAB) — Delhi Police’s Crime Branch arrested Dharminder Sharma after accusing the Punjab-based consultant of cheating a woman of nearly Rs 1.83 crore by posing as an expert in Canadian immigration and overseas investment.
The Cyber Cell announced the arrest on May 17, 2026 and said Sharma, an MBA graduate from Dera Bassi, induced the woman to put CAD 250,000 into a fake business investment program and pay CAD 45,000 in professional fees.
Police said Dharminder Sharma created fraudulent documents that claimed the woman would become a director and shareholder in a Canada-based hospitality firm. Even after three visa rejections from Canadian authorities, he allegedly kept the scheme going with false reconsideration requests rather than refund the money.
The case centered on Canadian immigration, but it surfaced during a week of stepped-up action by U.S. authorities against fraud tied to immigration filings, fake advisers and sham employment claims. USCIS and the Department of Homeland Security issued a string of statements in mid-May that pointed to broader enforcement across several channels.
On May 14, 2026, USCIS reported the sentencing of Jose Gregorio Sosa Cardona in a lawyer impersonation scheme. The agency said he posed as a licensed attorney and used fabricated documents in immigration matters.
“U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services was instrumental during the multi-year investigation of the immigration-related crimes. [The defendant] fabricated foreign law enforcement reports and other documents to falsely corroborate his clients’ asylum claims.”
Two days earlier, on May 12, 2026, Acting Director of ICE Todd Lyons described what he said was large-scale fraud in the Optional Practical Training program, known as OPT. He said investigators found thousands of foreign students linked to employers that appeared to exist largely on paper.
“We have identified over 10,000 foreign students who claim to be working for highly suspect employers. We’ve discovered empty buildings and locked doors where hundreds of foreign students are allegedly employed.”
USCIS and the Department of Justice also announced denaturalization actions on May 14, 2026 against 12 people accused of concealing criminal backgrounds or obtaining status through fraud. The agencies framed those cases as material misrepresentation during the citizenship process.
“Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, a naturalized U.S. citizen’s citizenship may be revoked. if the naturalization was illegally procured or procured by concealment of a material fact.”
Another rule change is due next. An interim final rule takes effect on July 10, 2026 and gives USCIS broader authority to deny immigration benefits after acceptance if signatures are found to be fraudulent or copy-pasted.
DHS said it expanded oversight over the past year into more than 25 major OPT employers. The department said many beneficiaries were being managed by unauthorized employees located in India, a detail that sharpened scrutiny of cross-border operations that market jobs, training placements or immigration pathways.
The Delhi case showed how those schemes can drain families before any visa decision arrives. Police said the woman paid amounts that together reached nearly Rs 1.83 crore, or CAD 295,000, after Sharma presented himself as a credible route into Canada through business investment.
Losses on that scale can wipe out savings, property proceeds and borrowed money in a single transaction chain. U.S. officials, describing separate fraud patterns, said victims in similar cases often lose more than $200,000 to people who present themselves as lawyers, consultants or overseas investment specialists.
The immigration risk does not end with the money. People who submit false paperwork prepared by consultants can face permanent inadmissibility to the United States or Canada, and they can also face criminal exposure if forged records appear in an application.
Authorities have taken an especially hard line on cases where documents were fabricated to support asylum claims, employment records or investment positions. Once a filing contains fraudulent material, the applicant can end up defending the paper trail as well as the underlying visa request.
Sharma’s alleged method fit a pattern investigators have tracked for years: promise a lawful route abroad, demand large fees up front, create corporate or immigration papers that look official, then buy time when the visa fails. In this case, police said the delay came through repeated false reconsideration requests after three refusals from Canadian authorities.
That sequence matters because victims often stay in the scheme after the first setback, hoping the next filing will unlock the visa and recover the sunk cost. Each added document, each new fee and each reassured phone call can deepen both the financial loss and the legal hazard.
Families drawn into Canadian immigration plans or U.S. filings often assume the consultant is simply handling technical paperwork. Enforcement actions in May showed agencies are looking beyond that explanation and examining the documents themselves, the signatures on them and the employers or entities tied to them.
People who suspect fraud can file a report with [USCIS](https://www.uscis.gov/report-fraud), review [DHS scam warnings](https://www.dhs.gov), or monitor [Delhi Police Crime Branch updates](https://delhipolice.gov.in/press-releases). The May arrests, sentencings and rule changes left little doubt that authorities are treating fake immigration pathways, whether sold as jobs, asylum cases or investment visas, as criminal cases with lasting consequences.
