Regulators revoke Ontario dentist’s license after Global News revealed he practiced under a name he had adopted following his conviction for helping Iran escape sanctions.
Dr. Aurash Cohen no longer has the right to practice in the province, according to the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontariowho said he canceled his certification on November 20.
A college spokeswoman said she could not provide details about the cases.
But she said dentists seeking certification are “required to disclose their criminal history, in any jurisdiction, on their application for registration in Ontario.”
“The application form is a legal certification – dentists are required to declare the accuracy of the contents of their application when it is submitted,” Lesley Byrne said in a statement.
The decision came six weeks after Global News reported that “Dr. Cohen” was, in fact, Arash Yousefijaman Ontario resident who pleaded guilty in 2021 to leading an Iran sanctions evasion scheme.
With his brother Amin Yousefijamit exported sensitive manufacturing equipment to Iran. The Yousefijams pleaded guilty in the United States to sanctions evasion charges and were sentenced to prison.
The United States then returned them to Canada, where they used Ontario’s renaming system to become Aurash and Ameen Cohen.
Under their adopted identities, Aurash Cohen graduated from McGill University and became a dentist in June, while Ameen Cohen was hired as a corporate compliance manager.
Immigration and Refugee Board
But their plan failed when immigration officials initiated deportation proceedings against Amin Yousefijam, an Iranian citizen who entered Canada under the Skilled Worker Program.
The Canada Border Services Agency disclosed the brothers’ name changes in hundreds of pages of documents filed as exhibits at the Immigration and Refugee Board.
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A hearing to determine whether to deport Amin Yousefijam is scheduled to begin in Toronto on February 25. The CBSA argues that the Richmond Hill, Ont., resident is accused of being kicked out of Amin Yousefijam. constitutes a danger to the security of Canada.
Amin Yousefijam undermined efforts to contain the Iranian regime and contributed to “an increased threat to Canada’s security with respect to terrorism and nuclear weapons attacks,” the CBSA wrote in a report.
“Mr. Yousefijam’s activities directly undermined the efforts of the Canadian government with respect to its foreign policy objectives toward Iran,” according to the CBSA report.
Arash Yousefijam is a naturalized Canadian citizen and therefore cannot be deported. He did not respond to an email seeking comment, but in an earlier response he said he had “paid his dues.”
The College of Dentists said those applying to practice in Ontario must demonstrate that their past and present conduct provides assurance that they will perform their work “with decency, integrity and honesty and in accordance with the law,” Byrne said .
“The Registration Regulations also provide that an applicant will be deemed not to have complied with the requirements for the issue of a certificate of registration if they have made a false or misleading statement or representation in relation to their application. »
THE The Ontario government has declared it considered reforming its name change policy to ensure that people convicted of violating international sanctions and other serious offenses could not hide their past.
Iran is a major source of instability in the Middle East. He leads a so-called “axis of resistance” that includes Hezbollah, Yemen’s Houthis and Hamas, which carried out the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
At the same time, the Iranian regime has been linked to several recent assassination plots targeting dissidents living abroad, as well as Irwin Cotler, a former liberal lawmaker and outspoken critic of the Islamic Republic.
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