Visa fraud racket busted, two land in police dragnet

For 19 Nepali citizens, promise for job in Serbia turned out to be fake as they were duped of Rs 70 lakh by two agents - Jayakub and Rupesh. The Delhi Police busted a major visa fraud racket and arrested both accused, they said on Wednesday.

The breakthrough followed a police complaint by a 22-year-old Nepali man, Sujhan Khadka, alleging that he and 18 others had lost money to the fraudsters, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Vikram Singh said.

Jacob had last year introduced himself as a travel agent and offered to get him and his associates jobs in Serbia, the complaint said. He even showed them scanned copies of fake visas and job letters. Once convinced, the victims handed over their original passports and transferred Rs 70 lakh to his QR code.

Individually, the victims had each paid about 3,500 euros (Rs 3-5 lakh). When they reached Delhi in July, hoping to collect their visas and fly to Serbia, the accused started making excuses. On being confronted, he threatened them and refused to return their passports and the money.

After an independent verification, it was revealed that the visas were fake and a formal complaint was lodged.

A case was registered on August 25, and Jayakub was arrested from Noida. The police also recovered 13 Nepali passports from him, besides a mobile phone containing incriminating chats.

He confessed about Rupesh’s role during interrogation, and the latter was arrested from Delhi’s Chhawla. Two other accused, Sachin and George, are still at large.

The accused transferred about Rs 60 lakh of the crime proceeds through Hawala to the bank accounts of their friends, including that of Jayakab’s wife, according to the police.