French visa fraud: CBI raids agent's house in Ludhiana

New Delhi, August 25

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) today searched a Ludhiana-based agent’s house as part of its ongoing investigation into a case involving visa fraud at the French Embassy.

The CBI said a raiding team found incriminating materials during the search and additionally recovered cash worth Rs 70.10 lakh from a bank locker.

Officials said the role of Balwinder Singh Bartia of Machhiwara, Ludhiana, in providing Schengen visas to the applicants also came to light during the course of investigation.

On a complaint from the French Embassy in New Delhi about the visa fraud, the CBI had filed a case against six individuals, including two, who had formerly worked in the visa department.

The two suspects, who were employed by the French Embassy in New Delhi, were accused of plotting with others to commit visa fraud between January 1 and May 6, 2022.

It was state in the complaint that applicants from Punjab and Jammu submitted forged letters to the French Consulate General in Bengaluru in order to obtain entry visas so they could work for private companies in Port-Le-Havre, France. The letters were allegedly written by a private company headquarterd in Bengaluru.

Without the knowledge or consent of the head of the visa department, Embassy of France, New Delhi, “the aforementioned two officials in the visa department are accused of issuing entry visas in favour of three additional accused after receiving illegal gratification of Rs 50,000 per visa upon being approached by the applicants,” the CBI alleged.

Additionally, it was claimed that the two officers, who moved out, destroyed files and records from the visa department after the entry visa had been issued.

Furthermore, it was stated that the accused handled a number of files, the majority of which were to individuals – young farmers or unemployed people from Punjab, who had not previously travelled – and that they had committed massive fraud in the embassy’s visa department, the CBI alleged.