The case of two charged with human trafficking in Red Deer has been held over in Red Deer Provincial Court.

Varinder Sidhu, 49, and Ravinder Sidhu, 46, both from Red Deer, have been charged with organizing the coming into Canada of one or more persons by means of abduction, fraud, deception or use or threat of force or coercion, employing a foreign national in a capacity in which the foreign national is not authorized under this Act to be employed and counseling, inducing, aiding or abetting or attempts to counsel, aid or abet any person to directly or indirectly misrepresent or withhold material facts relating to a relevant matter that induces or could induce an error in the administration of this Act is guilty of an offence.

The pair’s lawyer, Will Willms, told court that he had yet to receive disclosure for the case and asked the matter return to court on June 30th.

On April 3rd Calgary Federal Serious Organized Crime officers completed a 10-month investigation of a human trafficking case, which resulted in investigators charging two individuals under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

This investigation began in June 2014, when Alberta Employment Standards contacted RCMP which led to a joint-investigation into the alleged abuse of eight temporary foreign workers employed at Econolodge – Gasoline Alley of Red Deer.

efawcett@reddeerexpress.com