Three individuals who owned a restaurant in Calgary were sentenced to weekend jail terms by a judge for exploiting their immigrant employees financially. The convicted individuals, Manikandan Kasinathan, Chandramohan Marjak, and Mary Roche, were each given 90-day jail sentences for committing fraud over $5,000. They co-owned Marina Dosa and Tandoori Grill in northeast Calgary. In addition to the jail time, they were placed on 18-month probation and ordered to repay the $44,000 they had taken from three employees.
The trial, which started in the summer of 2024 and concluded in May 2025, resulted in the conviction decision by Justice Sandra Mah. The victims, hailing from India, had moved to Calgary between 2017 and 2020 as temporary foreign workers. They were coerced into paying $24,000 each for a Labour Market Impact Assessment under false pretenses, with threats of deportation if they failed to comply.
One victim paid the full amount, while the others paid $12,000 and $8,000, respectively. The victims were subjected to long working hours and substandard living conditions, with verbal and physical abuse reported. The victims eventually reported the abuse, leading to the legal proceedings. The accused individuals did not testify in their defense, with their lawyers’ arguments being dismissed by the judge.
