Two men have been sentenced to house arrest after being found guilty of running fraudulent truck driving schools that cheated dozens of Indian immigrants in Ontario.
After a five-week trial at Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice, Gurvinder Singh, 69, and Gurpreet Singh, 37, were convicted of fraud over $5,000 and uttering forged documents. Justice Pierre Roger called their operation “an elaborate scheme” that deprived nearly 100 aspiring truck drivers of proper training and endangered public safety.
According to the court decision, both men operated unregistered truck driving schools in Quebec that offered substandard training to newcomers, mainly from the South Asian community. The pair falsely claimed to provide Ontario’s mandatory entry-level training (MELT) for a Class A commercial licence, which is required to operate large trucks.
Between January 2019 and May 2021, they charged students $4,000 to $5,000 each—slightly below the market rate—without providing the 100-plus hours of certified instruction mandated by Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation.
Justice Roger said the offenders “robbed their students of the proper training they had paid for,” adding that their actions “created additional risk to the welfare of road users and damaged the reputation of legitimate truck drivers.”
Court records revealed that the Singhs paid a registered private college owner, Charanjit Deol, and her husband for illegal access to the Ministry of Transportation database. This access allowed them to falsify MELT completion certificates for students who had not met the required standards.
The offenders also used an interpreter, Hanifa Khokhar, and her husband, Mohamed Khokhar, to help students cheat on written exams by suggesting correct answers in Punjabi.
While prosecutors sought five-year prison terms, the judge instead imposed conditional sentences of two years less a day, citing their low risk of reoffending. Each man must complete 200 hours of community service.
The court emphasized that although no accidents were directly linked to the scam, untrained commercial drivers on the road pose serious safety risks. Justice Roger noted, “The lack of proper training jeopardizes road safety and leaves students ill-prepared.”
The Crown also secured the forfeiture of Gurpreet Singh’s three Volvo truck tractors worth about $100,000, which were used in the fraudulent operation.
Both men are now Canadian citizens. Gurvinder Singh, who immigrated from India in 2002, works as a truck driver, while Gurpreet Singh, a former student immigrant, operates a delivery business and supports his family.
The case reignites concerns about the trucking industry’s training standards, which came under scrutiny after several high-profile crashes involving immigrant drivers. The 2018 Humboldt Broncos bus tragedy in Saskatchewan and other fatal collisions in Ontario led to the introduction of stricter MELT requirements.
Justice Roger’s decision serves as a warning that fraudulent training schemes not only exploit newcomers but also undermine public trust and road safety across Canada.
