A woman who recently left the Gas City said she felt “used” after an immigrant man she married and helped sponsor to come to Canada left her early in the relationship and fled to the United States. Heather Neuls (35), who was living in Medicine Hat at the time, was on vacation in Cuba with a friend in February 2013, when she met Yoandy Prieto-Rodriguez in a market outside of her resort.
Sponsoring immigrants and investment in love
Prieto-Rodriguez arrived in Canada in November 2015 after they married. Neuls said she helped him get set up with a job, a phone, a driver’s licence, a bank account, etc., to help him transition to the new country. “I invested three years of my life, I invested all of my heart, and I invested over $50,000 on him and his family,” she said.
Be aware about marriage fraud
Prieto-Rodriguez is in Miami, says Neuls. She says he is living with a former girlfriend, with whom he had a daughter. Neuls says divorce proceedings with Prieto-Rodriguez are underway and nearly complete. However, according to Canadian law, she is still financially responsible for Prieto-Rodriguez for three years, even though the marriage failed. She says she wants women to be aware about marriage fraud: “don’t let yourself be used or taken advantage of, the way I did,” Neuls said.
This article is summarized by Canadian Fraud News.
Read the full article by Charles LeFebvre at Medicine Hat News.
