Fake Lawyers Scamming Immigrants, Bar of Montreal Warns

The Canadian dream can quickly become a nightmare for newcomers who fall prey to fake immigration lawyers, the president of the Bar of Montreal said as he reported a dramatic, local serge in such cases. David Ettedgui—whose organization represents local lawyers—says the fraudsters are targeting one of the city’s most vulnerable populations, often charging exorbitant sums of cash only to deliver immigration assistance that’s mediocre at best. Others simply abandon their victims. “We see anything from investors with deep pockets who have fallen for this scam as much as we see asylum seekers, some of whom cross the borders with nothing but their clothes and their suitcase,” Mr. Ettedgui said of the victims in an interview Feb. 16. “But the common thread between all of them is that they’re all trying to start a new life in Canada.”...