Regulators have revoked the licence of an Ontario dentist after World Information revealed he was working towards beneath a reputation he adopted following his conviction for serving to Iran evade sanctions.
Dr. Aurash Cohen is now not entitled to observe within the province, in response to the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario, which mentioned it cancelled his certification on Nov. 20.
A university spokesperson mentioned she couldn’t present particulars about instances.
However she mentioned dentists searching for certification are “required to reveal their legal conduct historical past, in any jurisdiction, on their utility for registration in Ontario.”
“The applying type is a authorized attestation – dentists are required to declare the accuracy of the contents of their utility when it’s submitted,” Lesley Byrne mentioned in a press release.
The choice got here six weeks after World Information reported that “Dr. Cohen” was, in truth, Arash Yousefijam, an Ontario resident who pleaded responsible in 2021 to working an Iran sanctions dodging scheme.
Collectively along with his brother Amin Yousefijam, he exported delicate manufacturing tools to Iran. The Yousefijams pleaded responsible within the U.S. to sanctions evasion fees, and have been sentenced to time served.
The U.S. then returned them to Canada, the place they used the Ontario title change system to turn into Aurash and Ameen Cohen.
Beneath their adopted identities, Aurash Cohen graduated from McGill College and have become a dentist in June, whereas Ameen Cohen was employed as a company compliance officer.
Immigration and Refugee Board
However their plan unravelled when immigration officers launched deportation proceedings towards Amin Yousefijam, an Iranian citizen who entered Canada beneath the Expert Employees Program.
The Canada Border Providers Company disclosed the brothers’ title modifications in a whole lot of pages of paperwork entered as reveals on the Immigration and Refugee Board.
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A listening to that may determine whether or not to deport Amin Yousefijam is scheduled to start in Toronto on Feb. 25. The CBSA is arguing the resident of Richmond Hill, Ont. is a hazard to Canada’s safety.
Amin Yousefijam undermined efforts to include the Iranian regime, and contributed to “an elevated safety risk in the direction of Canada with regard to terrorism and assault by nuclear weapons,” the CBSA wrote in a report.
“Mr. Yousefijam’s actions straight compromised the efforts of the Canadian authorities with respect to its overseas coverage objectives vis-a-vis Iran,” in response to the CBSA’s report.
Arash Yousefijam is a naturalized Canadian citizen and due to this fact can’t be deported. He didn’t reply to an e mail requesting remark, however in an earlier reply he mentioned he had “paid his dues.”
The dental faculty mentioned these making use of to observe in Ontario are required to reveal that their previous and current conduct offers confidence they may go about their work “with decency, integrity and honesty and in accordance with the legislation,” Byrne mentioned.
“The registration regulation additionally offers that an applicant shall be deemed to not have happy the necessities for the issuing of a certificates of registration if the applicant made a false or deceptive assertion or illustration in respect of their utility.”
The Ontario government said it was wanting into reforming its title modifications insurance policies to make sure that these convicted of worldwide sanctions violations and different severe offences can’t conceal from their pasts.
Iran is a key supply of instability within the Center East. It leads a so-called “axis of resistance” that features Hezbollah, Yemen’s Houthis and Hamas, which carried out the Oct. 7, 2023 assault on Israel.
On the similar time, the Iranian regime has been linked to a number of current assassination plots focusing on dissidents residing overseas, in addition to Irwin Cotler, a former Liberal MP and outspoken critic of the Islamic Republic.
© 2024 World Information, a division of Corus Leisure Inc.
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