Two held for duping overseas job aspirants of over ₹2 crore

MUMBAI: Two HSC dropouts were arrested by crime branch officials for defrauding several international job seekers of crores of rupees. Officials said the modus operandi of the duo would be to open overseas placement agencies in posh malls and collect money from aspirants by making tall promises of placing them in reputed companies and then absconding. They would then open another agency in a new place.

By using this trick, the police said, the two accused duped several people to the tune of over ₹2 crore. They opened placement agency offices in malls located in Bhandup, Khar, Mira Bhayandar and Marine Drive.

Officials attached to Unit 8 of the crime branch said the arrested two are identified as Shahid Hussain Mohammad Hussain Shaikh, 29, a resident of Jogeshwari East and Mohammad Nazim Mohammad Shabbir Manihar, 45, a resident of Malad.

“We had received a tip-off about a job fraud racket cheating people by promising them jobs in foreign countries. Accordingly, inspector Laxmikant Salunkhe and his team worked on the case and picked up the two accused,” said Raj Tilak Roushan, deputy commissioner of police, crime branch. He said the accused had opened offices in Bhandup’s Dream Mall, in Khar, in Mira-Bhayandar and opposite Churchgate railway station.

“They would stick posters and distribute pamphlets at various stations about visas and jobs in Kuwait, Singapore and Dubai. Once people approached them, they would take them to a private laboratory and get their medical tests done to gain their confidence. They would charge various amounts to the applicants in the name of visa, medical and other documentation, and thus after taking money from candidates simply close down the offices one fine day – mostly a month after opening the same,” said Roushan.

The police suspect that the duo have duped hundreds of aspiring candidates of over ₹2 crore. “We already have details about over 100 people the duo has duped of between ₹80,000 to ₹1 lakh each. They said they would target mostly the lower strata of skilled labourers like plumbers, carpenters, welders, electricians, masons and packaging helpers,” said the police officer.

“They would approach candidates with fake names, give them forged documents like offer letters from firms and companies from foreign countries and switch off their mobile phones after closing down offices. They, however, used to send the passports and other original documents of the candidates to their address by couriers,” said Mahesh Desai, assistant commissioner of police, crime branch.

Desai added that the duo has been duping job aspirants in this fashion at least since 2016 but has one case registered against them at the Bhandup police station. He said they are expecting the number of duped candidates to increase, as the investigation progresses.