OTTAWA — Canada's financial intelligence agency is set to report a dramatic surge in extortion cases, with a growing number of crimes targeting Canadians of Indian or South Asian descent by criminal organizations with direct ties to that region. The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) has observed a sixfold increase in extortion cases during the first four months of 2026 compared to the same period last year.
Soaring Extortion Numbers
According to a report obtained by the National Post, FINTRAC has already recorded more extortion cases in 2026 than the total for the previous two years combined. The agency has handed over more than 100 extortion cases to police since the start of the year, with the majority occurring in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, and Ontario. This surge is part of a broader increase in financial crimes across Canada over the past few years.
Methods and Targets
Communications between criminals and victims often involve threatening phone calls or encrypted social media messages, where targets are coerced into paying large sums of money. While actual payments range from hundreds to thousands of dollars, some victims are demanded to pay over $100,000 or even $1 million. The 100 cases involve more than 300 subjects and over 63,000 financial transactions, frequently linked to money laundering and sometimes terrorist financing.
Victims are typically small and medium-sized business owners in sectors such as retail, transportation, construction, real estate, and hospitality. The extortion schemes often employ agents who act as intermediaries between the criminal organization and the victim. These agents are usually between 17 and 28 years old, hold an Indian passport, and are registered as foreign students at community colleges in Canada.
Money Flow and Criminal Groups
Once a payment is extorted, the agent typically deposits funds at multiple financial institutions or money services businesses before sending money to individuals or companies in India, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Kenya, or Portugal. FINTRAC's analysis indicates that multiple crime organizations are involved in this extortion wave, including two well-known rival gangs based in northern India: the Bishnoi Gang and the Bambiha Gang.
Both organizations, which originated in the 2010s, are notorious for extortion and contract killings. While their activities extend beyond India and Canada, their crimes in Canada often target Indo-Canadian businesses and individuals. FINTRAC also reports that domestic copycat groups are attempting to exploit the fear generated by these crime groups, sometimes falsely claiming affiliation with them.
Official Response
Sarah Paquet, FINTRAC's chief executive officer, emphasized the agency's role in combating these crimes. 'By following the money and leveraging the power of financial intelligence, we can effectively target, disrupt, and dismantle the organized criminal networks that profit from this illicit activity and threaten the safety of Canadians,' she stated in a news release. Police and politicians from local, provincial, and federal levels have formed a round-table discussion to develop solutions to the rise in extortions plaguing the South Asian community in British Columbia and elsewhere.
