CHARLOTTETOWN -- The case of two Charlottetown hoteliers who are charged with helping set up fake addresses for Chinese immigrants who entered Prince Edward Island under a business program is expected back in court today.
The Canada Border Services Agency has charged 60-year-old Ping Zhong with three counts of aiding and abetting misrepresentation under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, and five counts against her 58-year-old brother, Yi Zhong.
The siblings are alleged to have assisted business immigrants seeking permanent residency to provide residential addresses in P.E.I. though they didn't really live there, as required under the province's immigration system.
The Canada Border Services Agency says 566 immigrants used the same addresses between 2008 and 2015 -- the siblings' Sherwood Motel and Ping Zhong's Charlottetown home.
Nearly all of the immigrants eventually were granted permanent residency under the provincial nominee program, the Island's main business immigration program.
Lee Cohen, the defence lawyer for the siblings, says in an email that the court hearing today at the Charlottetown provincial court is "for the purpose of entering pleas."
The case was adjourned on July 26 after Cohen requested further disclosure of the federal prosecutor's case.
