“The great enemy of clear language is Insincerity. When there is a gap between one’s real and one’s declared aims, one turns as it were instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish squirting out ink.” (George Orwell, 1903-50, English Novelist)
Marissa Odi Gonzales’ Immigration Services Team at 1008 Pape Avenue, Suite 2W in Toronto binds her clients to a bogus Retainer Agreement with an alleged immigration consultant with no IRRC connection. An inquiry by Balita into the data base of Immigration Canada IRRC records revealed that her alleged immigration consultant Melvin Almeria under Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC) Membership Number: R515544 is not registered and cannot be found in their records.
The bogus Retainer Agreement then goes on legalese terms to bind the unsuspecting clients to agree to certain conditions using the RCIC name in the client’s application for “Express Entry to Canada.” The gap in the declared aim of Gonzales to help clients in their dream to stay in Canada and her real opportunistic aim of earning big bucks thru immigration scam has been cloaked in the confusing language of legal terms and insincerity…just “like a cuttlefish squirting out ink” via “long words and exhausted idioms” to evade capture.
The amount collected by Gonzales’ Immigration Scam is horrendous. Not only did she demanded money for the “Express Entry” Application to Canada but bleed her clients dry by asking them to invest a share in her store “Chelsea Restaurant.” Other victims come from various countries outside Canada.
These stories and the feeling of helplessness coming from the victims are just part of the serious problems faced by unsuspecting caregivers and migrant workers, their parents and families who doled out their savings to help their loved ones find a better life in a foreign land only to be duped by someone like Ms. Gonzales.
Take the case of Jane Bartolome who wrote her affidavit to Balita last October 21, 2019.
“I’m one of the victims who went to Marissa Odi Gonzales, MG Consulting, to seek help in the processing of my immigration papers.
She promised to help me, therefore I paid the first $1,000.00 for the Retainer Agreement. Though she did not help at all, she convinced me to put a share in her business called Chelsea Restaurant. I gave her the amount of $10,800.00 out of the $ 15,000.00 she was asking for. I didn’t give her the remaining $4,200.00 since I believed Marissa Gonzales scammed me because I invested in her business instead of getting help in my application for immigration to Canada.
But I am convinced it is an immigration fraud because she promised me that I will get all the things I
needed for immigration but it’s all in vain. I kept going back and forth to ask her to give me back my money but she refused.
I borrowed the money from my Aunt, Lolita Hidalgo, because at that time I went to Marissa Gonzales, I didn’t know what to do if my immigration papers would not prosper. Marissa suggested that I put a share in her restaurant in exchange for her help with my immigration papers.
Overall, Marissa Gonzales didn’t do anything to help me at all because she didn’t give me the right papers nor did she checked them. I wasn’t knowledgeable at the time since I’ve only been her as a contract worker, caregiver, and new to the country.”
Another victim, Albert Catantan paid Ms. Gonzales the sum of $3,500.00 for the processing of his immigration application since last year. Not hearing any updates about his application, Mr. Catantan asked to cancel his application and requested a full refund. As of this writing, there was no response from Gonzales’ MG Consulting Services.
Canadian Immigration authorities thru their website https://iccrc-crcic.ca/fraud-prevention warns applicants, “In Canada, authorized immigration practitioners who can legally offer you Canadian Immigration advice in exchange for a fee or other consideration are either RCICs, lawyers registered in one of Canada’s 13 Law Societies, or notaries registered with the Chambre des notaires du Quebec.”
More testimonies next issue of Balita.
