A man who conned a guest worker out of $14,346 by pretending to be an immigration lawyer was today handed a suspended prison sentence, and ordered to pay his victim back.Joel Balfour, a Trinidadian IT worker, told Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner: “This has set me back in my life. I have lost my job, but I was able to come up with 90 percent of the financing.”As his victim looked on, the 42-year-old told Magistrates’ Court that he could pay back $13,000 today.Noting that the fraud caused Jamaican guest worker Albert Ricketts “great mental stress, as well as the loss of his savings”, Crown counsel Geoffrey Faiella suggested an immediate custodial sentence of nine to 12 months.The court heard earlier that Balfour created a nonexistent Canadian immigration lawyer named “Patrick Ferguson”.Using that name he reived payments from Mr Ricketts from November 2011 until April of this year, when he was arrested.Mr Ricketts had hoped to obtain work in Canada and move his family there.Asked by Mr Warner how he imagined he could have obtained a Canadian visa, Balfour said: “I didn’t think I could. I would try.”He added: “This is something I was just going to try and see what I could do. In the process, I misused his friendship ... I talked to him and convinced him.”Mr Warner said Mr Ricketts must have known that Balfour was not a lawyer, and imposed a sentence of six months’ imprisonment, to be suspended for 24 months.Balfour was ordered to repay the $13,000 today, with the balance to be paid in three months.Mr Warner also remarked that since Balfour has lost his job, “he will probably be dealt with by Immigration”.Asked afterwards how Balfour had managed to persuade him that he could secure necessary paperwork, Mr Ricketts said: “He’s a sweet tongue, a sweet talker.”He said the friend who had introduced them was currently back in Jamaica, also under the misapprehension that he would be receiving immigration papers from Balfour.Mr Ricketts, accompanied by a family member, added that he was obtaining evidence from others in Canada and the UK who had also fallen victim to Balfour.“His mission is to go after immigrants,” Mr Ricketts told The Royal Gazette. “He portrays himself like a good man, but he is a professional con artist. This has been happening over 25 years.”Although relieved to have most of his money returned, the former construction worker, who was left destitute by the deception, said he hoped Balfour’s case could be reopened when others came forward with evidence.