The Canada Border Services Agency has withdrawn human trafficking charges against a former Toronto recruiter who brought in hundreds of migrant workers to the Greater Toronto Area.

A lawyer for the government told Justice Alfred O’Marra of the Superior Court of Justice on Wednesday that all six counts of human trafficking charges against Liwayway (Lily) Miranda, owner of A&L Hammer Workforce Management Inc., had been stayed. No reasons were provided.

Human trafficking charges against Sharon Mushroom Farm owner Laxman Marsonia and misrepresentation offences against his son-in-law Yatin Bera had previously been withdrawn.

“I’m relieved,” Miranda said outside the court after the criminal charges were dropped. “This has destroyed my life. This has destroyed me emotionally and financially.”

The trio were charged in May 2018 after a yearlong investigation that involved both the RCMP and border officials. The charges stemmed from complaints brought by six migrant labourers who came to work at the farm with the help of Miranda’s agency.

Flanked by a dozen supporters, mostly migrant workers she helped bring to the Sharon farm, Miranda said the charges against her should never have been laid in the first place.

“I had to close my business and borrow money to fight these charges. Life has been miserable for me for (almost) two years,” she said.

Miranda’s lawyer Leora Shemesh said the Crown chose to drop the charges against her client after the preliminary inquiry.

“There were numerous deficiencies with the investigation including the fact that the investigator had a lack of knowledge as to the parameters and laws surrounding the immigration and refugee protection act,” she said. “This lack of knowledge plagued the investigation and unfortunately Ms Miranda suffered greatly as a result.”

Earlier this year, Miranda was ordered by the Toronto small claims court to return a total of $43,350 in fees she charged eight migrant workers for jobs at the mushroom farm and in damages for “illegal” immigration services, as well as legal costs to the complainants and the court.

The Filipino migrant workers claimed Miranda recruited them and gave them legal advice regarding immigration matters, for which they were charged a fee. Only lawyers and licensed immigration consultants can charge for legal advice, the small claims court judge said. Miranda is neither a lawyer nor a consultant.

Jun Saludares, acting as counsel for the workers in the small claims court, said the workers, who were not among the six alleged victims in the criminal case, have not yet received their compensation.

The Canada Border Services Agency declined to comment on Wednesday’s court decision and instead referred the Star to the Public Prosecution Service of Canada, which did not respond to the newspaper’s inquiries.