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Ms. Zheng returned home to China in June. Mr. Quan has since moved to Halifax, where he now runs a one-person hair salon. He is applying for citizenship but said he feels abused by program that promised him a new life in a foreign country.

“The problem really is one of greed,” Mr. Gillis said. “The program is good for the province of New Brunswick. It’s good for the serious Chinese entrepreneurs that want to come set up a business. But to take advantage, to squeeze money out of them is just wrong and it sends the wrong message back to China because they all talk and it sends the wrong message into the community here and people like us are left here trying to clean it up and say not everybody is like that.”

Immigrants complained they didn’t know what had happened to their investment and in many cases had no contact with the companies they had paid, let alone come on as senior managers or directors. Some businesses, on the other hand, complained they tried to follow up with notices of board meetings and financial statements, but couldn’t find the immigrant investors. “Intermediaries indicated to us that, from their dealings, immigrants’ key focus was on obtaining a permanent resident visa and the investment details were secondary,” Prince Edward Island’s auditor-general wrote. “ Several intermediaries stated that not one immigrant has come to them looking for information on the company in which they invested.’’

Of those immigrants who did manage to open businesses, many were pushed into corner stores, restaurants and motels, creating a bidding war in New Brunswick for such businesses, Mr. Peacock said. “The reality is when you look at a city like Fredericton or Moncton, there are only so many convenience stores that can be opened,” he said.