Three individuals involved in the ownership of Marina Dosa and Tandoori Grill in northeast Calgary have been sentenced to 90-day jail terms on weekends for committing fraud over $5,000 against their immigrant employees. The convicted individuals, Manikandan Kasinathan, Chandramohan Marjak, and Mary Roche, must also serve 18 months of probation and repay the $44,000 they unlawfully took from three employees. The sentencing concluded a trial that spanned from the summer of 2024 to May 2025, resulting in convictions by Justice Sandra Mah.
The victims, all from India, arrived in Calgary between 2017 and 2020 as temporary foreign workers under specific permits to work as cooks at the defendants’ restaurant. They were coerced into paying $24,000 each for a Labour Market Impact Assessment, falsely claimed to be government fees related to their immigration to Canada. In reality, employers were only required to pay a $1,000 processing fee for this assessment under the temporary foreign workers program.
One victim paid the full $24,000, while the other two paid $12,000 and $8,000, respectively. The court heard that the victims were compelled to hand over cash for various expenses, including the assessment fees and rent. It took one victim a year of extensive work hours to repay the fraudulent amount.
The living conditions provided by the offenders were deemed substandard, with victims enduring verbal and physical abuse. One victim testified feeling like a slave and being mistreated, prompting them to report the abuse to authorities. The defendants’ lawyers claimed the money received was for legitimate expenses, but the judge dismissed this defense.
The defendants did not testify in their defense, and their arguments were refuted by the judge. The culmination of this case highlights the exploitation and mistreatment suffered by vulnerable immigrant workers in Calgary.