Operators concealed a serious workplace injury where worker’s hand was partially severed by a meat slicer
Three individuals behind a fraudulent network of temporary employment agencies that exploited asylum seekers and concealed a serious workplace injury have pleaded guilty, according to a report.
Hector Hair Rodriguez Contreras, 56, Hector Lopez Ramos, 51, and Beatriz Adriana Guerrero Munoz, 45, operated a group of temp agencies in Quebec that hired asylum seekers without valid work permits. The workers were paid in cash or by cheques made out to false identities, often receiving less than minimum wage, CBC reported.
Rodriguez Contreras pleaded guilty in April to charges of fraud over $5,000 and conspiracy to commit fraud, just weeks before his trial was scheduled to begin. Lopez Ramos and Guerrero Munoz later pleaded guilty to reduced charges of using forged documents, following the testimony of one of the injured workers, according to CBC.
The scheme was initially exposed by a 2018 CBC investigation, which revealed that the agencies recruited vulnerable asylum seekers at places such as Montreal Metro stations. Workers were assigned stolen or fabricated names and social insurance numbers to secure employment under the table.
One of those workers, who testified during the trial, suffered a severe injury when his hand was partially severed by a meat slicer while working at a meat processing plant near Montreal. He told the court that he had not been properly trained on how to operate the equipment. Doctors performed an emergency skin graft using tissue from his thigh to repair his hand. Years later, he continues to experience pain and has been unable to return to his planned career in construction, instead working as a security guard.
The temp agency failed to report the injury to Quebec’s workplace health and safety board, the Commission des normes, de l'équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CNESST), until forced to do so after the CBC investigation brought the case to light.
Quebec’s Labour Ministry launched an investigation known as Project TARMAC, which uncovered that more than 400 individuals employed by the network had also been receiving unemployment benefits, CBC reported. Many of these workers were newly arrived immigrants with little knowledge of their rights or Quebec’s labour standards.
The Quebec Labour Ministry has described the case as "the largest fraud ever committed" against the province, estimating that government losses reached approximately $635,000 as a result of the illegal operation, CBC stated.
Prosecutor Geneviève Bélanger told CBC that part of the agencies’ operations were legitimate, making it harder for authorities to detect the ongoing fraud. “That was part of the scheme. For part of their business, they would do things in order, while for another part, they wouldn’t — which also allowed them to fly under the radar,” she explained.
The charges carry significant legal consequences. Rodriguez Contreras faces a maximum of 14 years in prison, while Lopez Ramos and Guerrero Munoz each face up to two years of imprisonment for their roles in the operation. Sentencing is scheduled for mid-July at the Montreal courthouse.
