Coquitlam meat business caught in pay-to-work scheme must repay foreign worker, tribunal rules

Despite claiming he was the victim of a “witch hunt,” the proprietor of a wholesale meat business in Coquitlam was found to have violated the Temporary Foreign Worker Protection Act.

In May 2023, Shams Halal Meat hired Ehsan Moghaddaszadeh Kermani on a two-year closed work permit. Kermani soon left the job, claiming his pay was lowered and he was expected to “pay back some money” in order to keep working there, according to a previous Employment Standards Tribunal decision.

A recent appeal filed by his employer focuses on the money Kermani paid to an unlicensed foreign worker recruiter to get the job.

While living in Iran, Kermani discussed coming to Canada with a company called VisaTwo. According to Kermani, the company’s representatives told him an immigration lawyer in Vancouver had found him work but, to guarantee the job, Kermani had to pay the lawyer $52,000.

To get the process started, Kermani paid $12,000 into a Canadian bank account.

That $12,000 was deposited into a Canadian bank account belonging to Mohammad Hassan Jalali Javaran, described by the court as an unlicensed recruiter acting as an agent for an Iranian immigration firm. The deposit was withdrawn in cash the same day.

Less than one year later, Kermani started working for Mohammed Shameem at Shams Halal Meat on Schoolhouse Street.

‘Smokescreen’

Kermani alleged Javaran collected the money on behalf of Shameem.

Javaran denied receiving any of that money. Javaran and Shameem both denied knowing each other.

However, in a 2025 case, an adjudicating delegate concluded Javaran and Shameem received the $52,000 Kermani paid to come to Canada.

A third party identified in court documents as Mr. Kumar was “used as a smokescreen” by Javaran to conceal the fact he worked with Shameem to recruit Kermani, the delegate wrote.

The ruling details what the tribunal described as a deliberately opaque arrangement involving multiple intermediaries, “ghost” email accounts, and unexplained document transfers.

Shameem was unable to explain how the Iranian recruiters obtained confidential LMIA documents or how they possessed signed employment agreements.

Shameem was ordered to pay Kermani $12,000 plus interest, for a total of $14,193. Kermani was also entitled to recover $40,000 from Javaran.

Money trail

In appealing that decision, Shams Halal argued Shameem was the victim of a “with hunt” because he was found to have taken money in return for employment.

While some money changed hands, there wasn’t enough evidence to produce a “money trail” between Kermani and Shameem, according to the appeal.

For that appeal to be successful, Shameem would have to prove a key fact of the case was “clearly wrong” or the adjudicating delegate made a “palpable and overriding error.” Neither element was proved in the appeal, wrote Employment Standards Tribunal member Brandon Mewhort.

Concluding Shameem received $12,000 from Kermani was “reasonable,” Mewhort wrote.

“ There was a complex set of facts in this case that had to be considered,” Mewhort wrote. “Nothing indicates to me there was a ‘witch hunt’ against the employer.”

Under B.C. law, foreign workers are prohibited from being charged for recruitment or employment – even indirectly through third parties.

Mewhort dismissed the appeal.