New Delhi, December 19
Documents and files related to Schengen visa of 64 persons having a high risk of migration are not traceable in the French Embassy here. The mission faced a massive fraud allegedly committed by two of its former employees who were booked by the CBI recently, officials said today.
Papers ‘destroyed’
French Embassy ex-officials Shokeen & Mandal allegedly made Rs 32 lakh, charging Rs 50,000 per visa, by clearing files of questionable candidates | CBI suspects they may have destroyed the papers at the visa dept
Former embassy officials Shubham Shokeen and Aarti Mandal allegedly made Rs 32 lakh, charging Rs 50,000 per visa, by clearing files of questionable candidates, the officials in the know of CBI investigation said.
The officials alleged that Shokeen and Mandal handled 484 visa files between January 1 and May 6. Of these, 64 files pertained to individuals having a “high risk” of migration like young farmers or unemployed persons from Punjab who had never travelled before and lacked the profile to hold a Schengen visa.
The agency suspects that Mandal and Shokeen allegedly destroyed the documents and files at the visa department to leave no traces of this illicit activity, they added.
The CBI had on Friday last conducted searches in Delhi, Patiala, Gurdaspur and Jammu during which documents, laptops, cellphones and passports were seized.
The agency has alleged that Shokeen and Mandal, former employees at the visa department of the French Embassy in New Delhi, committed visa fraud from January to May.
The CBI has, in its FIR, alleged that Navjot Singh from J&K and Chetan Sharma and Satwinder Singh Purewal from Punjab allegedly submitted fake letters purportedly written by Maersk Fleet Management and Technology India Pvt Ltd, Bengaluru, to the Consulate General of France, Bengaluru, for issuing entry visas for joining at Emma Maersk, Edith Maersk and Munkebo Maersk, respectively, at Port-Le-Havre, France.
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