Authorities allege a man recently arrested in Ontario in connection with a human smuggling scheme dropped a family of four off near the Manitoba-U.S. border and told them to walk through blizzard conditions when their van got stuck in a remote, snow-covered area on the January 2022 night they froze to death.
Fenil Patel, who was living in Brampton, Ont., was arrested on Sept. 5 following an extradition request from the United States. The charges he’s expected to face there include conspiracy to bring aliens to the U.S. resulting in death, court documents obtained by CBC News say.
The update comes nearly four years after the Patel family — no relation to Fenil Patel — died of hypothermia while attempting to cross illegally into Minnesota, near Emerson, Man.
The frozen bodies of 39-year-old Jagdish Patel, his 37-year-old wife, Vaishali, their 11-year-old daughter, Vihangi, and their three-year-old son, Dharmik, were found just 12 metres from the U.S. border, after they got separated from the larger group of migrants they were with.
Court documents recently filed in Fenil Patel’s case also outline authorities’ concerns that Patel might leave the country if not arrested, due to the recent sentencings of two other men convicted in the case and efforts by CBC News to seek information “in the RCMP’s investigative file on Patel.”
“The CBC’s application could potentially lead to the release of sensitive information regarding the investigation into Patel and possibly to Patel fleeing Canada,” the court documents say.
The U.S. would have “limited ability to arrest and extradite him” if he fled to India, the documents say, noting that while the two countries have an extradition treaty, “U.S. authorities understand that India is not a co-operative partner in extradition.”
Alleged human smuggler living near Toronto arrested
Court documents in the case also reference information related to Fenil Patel raised during the trial of Steve Shand and Harshkumar Patel (also no relation), the two men already convicted and sentenced for their roles in the smuggling scheme.
That includes an allegation that on the night he dropped them off near the border, the family who died called Fenil Patel for help because it was too cold.
A co-operating witness also told authorities that while travel agents in India co-ordinated migrants’ travel to Canada, Patel helped them get Canadian student visas — and sent their names, photos and flight information to the witness, who would then help get the migrants across the border illegally, court documents say.
After the Patel family’s bodies were found, the co-operating witness said he also had a conversation with Fenil Patel where Patel “panicked and stated that his … phone number was not going to work, which [the witness] understood to mean that [Patel] planned to change his phone number.”
While charges were announced in 2023 against Fenil Patel in India for his alleged role in the Patel family’s deaths, an investigation by CBC’s The Fifth Estate later found him living a quiet life in a suburb outside Toronto.
The Fifth Estate questions Fenil Patel
Patel did not respond to a number of attempts to interview him over a year ago. When a crew from The Fifth Estate questioned him in front of his home, he turned and walked inside without any response.
Extradition experts who reviewed the court documents in Patel’s case say how long the extradition process might take is anyone’s guess.
Tony Paisana, a partner at Peck and Company Barristers in Vancouver, said in some instances, for example, a person will consent to extradition, ending the process immediately.
But in others, the process can drag out for years, between arguments over whether authorities’ actions were legal and any subsequent appeals.
The fact that Fenil Patel was taken into custody through what’s known as a provisional arrest warrant — which is done in cases of urgency, before the other country files an official extradition request — could drag things out too, since the U.S. then has 60 days to file that, he said.
Paisana said while he can understand why the publicity in the case might raise concerns about Patel fleeing, using the actions of a broadcaster like CBC to justify that kind of warrant is “definitely unique.”
Robert Currie, a professor of transnational criminal law at Dalhousie University in Halifax, said it’s typical in Canada for most extraditions to happen quickly.
That’s often because people agree to be extradited — either as part of a plea deal, or to focus their energy on their criminal defence — or because they can’t afford the kind of legal representation they need to fight the process.
As for why it took so long for the extradition process to begin for Patel, Currie said that’s even harder to tell.
“Undoubtedly, they were being careful because they didn’t want to spook the individual, or for him to get wind of the investigation and perhaps flee,” Currie said.
“Beyond that, you know, the wheels of justice just grind slowly sometimes, and these delays often go unexplained. And there are often good reasons for them — but sometimes there are just bureaucratic reasons.”
Patel’s case is expected to appear in court again in Ontario Friday.
