Police have charged two Red Deer residents with human trafficking after a ten month investigation into the alleged abuse of temporary foreign workers at a motel in Gasoline Alley.
Calgary Federal Serious Organized Crime officers started an investigation in June 2014 after RCMP was contacted about the alleged abuse of eight workers at the Econo Lodge.
Varinder Sidhu, 49, and Ravinder Sidhu, 46, from Red Deer, are both charged under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act with:
- Organize the coming into Canada of one or more persons by means of abduction, fraud, deception or use or threat of force or coercion, contrary to Section 118(1).
- Employ a foreign national in a capacity in which the foreign national is not authorized under this Act to be employed, contrary to Section 124(1).
- Counsel, induce, aid or abet or attempts to counsel, aid or abet any person to directly or indirectly misrepresent or withhold material facts relating to a relevant matter that induces or could induce an error in the administration of this Act is guilty of an offence contrary to Section 126.
"Human Traffickers exploit the most vulnerable people in society such, as migrant workers, and they prey on despair and desperation", said Inspector Darcy Fleury, Officer in Charge of the Alberta RCMP Federal Serious and Organized Crime in Calgary. "Our collaboration with Alberta Employment Standards was instrumental in this investigation."
The pair are scheduled to appear in Red Deer Provincial Court on the charges on May 26, 2015.
