Three frauds who issued fake Canada, Denmark visas, arrested

Mumbai police bust gang in overseas job fraud, arresting 3 for issuing fake visas and job offer letters, duping aspirants of lakhs; accused remanded till June 3.

Mumbai: The crime branch officials recently busted a gang involved in overseas job fraud and arrested three persons from their Andheri East office for duping several aspirants by promising them employment in Canada, Denmark and other Western countries. In order to appear authentic, the frauds issued fake visas and bogus appointment letters to the applicants, which were recovered by the police during the raid.

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The arrested accused, Shubham Arvind Pundir, 25, Shubham Pradeep De, 23, and Swapnil Sunil Naik, 34 were produced in the court and remanded in custody till June 3.

The police said, the three men charged between ₹1 lakh and 5 lakh from the aspirants and shared the visas and job offer letters on their WhatsApp.

According to the police, officials of unit 8 conducted a raid on the placement office situated in Avenue Building, Chimatpada area in Andheri East on Tuesday evening and seized several documents. The FIR was registered by one, Ramiz Khan, 36, a resident of Mulund who was duped of ₹2 lakh. Khan was looking for a job in a European country for a better salary and life. He saw an advertisement on social media in October 2023 about an agency named ‘Worldwide Recruiting Services’ which helps in providing jobs and employment visas. The ad also mentioned the office address which was based in Chimanpada, Andheri East, so therefore he decided to visit to enquire about jobs in Europe.

Two persons present in the office informed him that there was a job available in the sales department of a company in Denmark and promised him one lakh per month. They also informed Khan that the entire expenditure of applying for a visa and other processing fees would be ₹4 lakh and he has to pay ₹2 lakh in advance and the remaining ₹2 lakh would be deducted from his salary every month. Only two places are vacant so apply soon, said a police officer.

As per the instruction, the complainant paid ₹50,000 on October 31, 2023, and was told after two months the job offer letter would come, then the medical test would be conducted and after that visa will arrive. After two months Khan paid ₹1.5 lakh through online banking. The accused provided job offer letters to him. While verifying the complainant found that the officer’s letter was bogus so he informed the agency. The accused replied that they would short out the issue and send him another offer letter, added the official.

But the complainant suspected foul play and he started demanding his money back. The accused refunded only ₹34,000 and said the remaining amount they spent on his processing like on lawyers, visas, and insurance. Khan then approached the police and provided the information. “The police conducted an inquiry and learnt that they have duped many people with similar modus operandi. The FIR was registered under sections 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating and dishonestly), 465 (forgery), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating), 471 (Using as genuine a forged document), 120 (B), (criminal conspiracy) 34 (criminal act with a common intention) IPC. The accused opened an office with the intention to dupe unemployed people in Mumbai as well as other states by luring them to get jobs abroad,” said police inspector Laxmikant Salunkhe of the unit 8.