HC refuses bail of Dahisar man accused of trafficking job-seekers to cyber fraud hubs in South East Asia

The Bombay High Court denied bail to Jerry Jacob, accused of human trafficking and luring job-seekers for illegal call centers in Southeast Asia.

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday rejected the bail plea of Dahisar resident Jerry Jacob, who has been arrested for allegedly luring job-seekers with promises of lucrative overseas employment and trafficking them to illegal call centres operating in Laos, Cambodia and other South East Asian countries.

HC refuses bail of Dahisar man accused of trafficking job-seekers to cyber fraud hubs in South East Asia

A division bench of justices A S Gadkari and Shyam C Chandak refused to grant bail to the 46-year-old, noting that there was prima facie material suggesting his involvement in an organised crime syndicate engaged in human trafficking.

The court observed that the trafficked victims were allegedly forced to carry out cyber frauds targeting unsuspecting people across the world, primarily in the United States, the United Kingdom and India.

“The offence is serious in nature. It appears that, after release on bail, the appellant is likely to abscond and tamper with the prosecution evidence,” the bench said while rejecting Jacob’s plea.

Jacob was arrested on March 25, 2024, and had approached the High Court after a special NIA court rejected his bail application on December 6, 2024.

According to investigators, Jacob allegedly trafficked several job-seekers to remote locations in Cambodia, where they were forced to operate cyber fraud rackets targeting foreign nationals, including Indians.

The case was initially registered at the Vile Parle police station based on a complaint filed by one of the alleged victims, Siddharth Yadav. The complaint alleged that between December 2022 and March 2023, Jacob and his associates trafficked Yadav and several others to Cambodia, which has emerged as a hub for “pig butchering” scams, a form of online financial fraud.

However, Jacob denied the allegations, claiming that the individuals who travelled abroad had been fully informed about the nature of the employment and had signed formal contracts before leaving India. His counsel argued that the arrangement could not be termed human trafficking.

The defence also contended that Jacob himself had entered into an employment contract and possessed a valid work permit, placing him in the same position as the alleged victims. It further argued that statements by victims claiming they were forced to participate in scamming activities should not be relied upon, particularly when none of the victims of those alleged frauds are part of the prosecution’s case.

Opposing the bail plea, Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, appearing for the National Investigation Agency (NIA), argued that the victims were taken abroad through deceptive practices.

Singh told the court that Jacob and his associates had been operating a recruitment agency since 2021–22. He added that since 2020 Jacob had frequently travelled to Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Malaysia and Sri Lanka to recruit “live chat agents” for the Long Sheng company, which operates from the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone along the Mekong River in Laos.