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When Reha and Ecehan Ozcelik landed at Montreal’s Trudeau airport on Sept. 17, they told the border officer who questioned them they were permanent residents of Canada and lived in Montreal.

And yet, they couldn’t answer basic questions about the city where they claimed to reside.

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On Wednesday, the Canada Border Services Agency announced the Court of Quebec had fined the Turkish couple $120,000 for immigration fraud.

Specifically, they were accused of being immigrants who had never really lived in Canada. They just pretended they did in order to fulfill the residency requirement for immigrants.

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The hefty penalty is the first to be trumpeted by the government since Immigration Minister Jason Kenney announced on Sept. 10 the government was investigating thousands of people suspected of residency fraud.

“Our government will not tolerate the deliberate abuse of Canada’s immigration system,” Mr. Kenney and Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said in a joint statement issued after the Ozceliks’ verdict. “Our message is clear: individuals who choose to commit fraud will be caught and punished.”