6 who duped job seekers convicted under MCOCA

The court also noted that as member of the syndicate, the accused used violence and other unlawful means with the “objective of gaining pecuniary benefits”.

In a rare conviction under the MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, 1999) in Delhi, a gang of six persons who duped many job aspirants of crores of rupees by offering them jobs in foreign countries were found guilty under the stringent act by a Delhi court.

6 who duped job seekers convicted under (HT File (Representative Image))

The accused included three members of a family, including a couple. They have been handed between 10 and 12 years in jail. While the main accused, Vipin Sharma, has been sentenced to 12 years of imprisonment along with a fine of ₹55 lakh, the other five accused were awarded 10 years in jail and fines of ₹14 lakh each. The court has also fined them around ₹34 lakh, which it directed the accused to pay out of the fine imposed on them to the 10 complainants.

The other five accused are Sharma’s wife Honey, his brother Sachin and associates — Bhupender Sharma, Aman Alam, and Arshad Alam. The Delhi Police’s special cell had booked the accused under MCOCA in 2009, a year after they were arrested in 31 cheating cases registered in Delhi, Haryana and Punjab between 2000 and 2009.

Pronouncing the order, special judge Rakesh Syal noted that all the convicts were members of an organised syndicate led by Vipin Sharma. “They were involved in more than 30 cases. The registration of criminal cases did not have any effect on the convicts and they unabatedly continued to indulge in the unlawful activities in an organised manner,” judge Syal said.

The court also noted that as member of the syndicate, the accused used violence and other unlawful means with the “objective of gaining pecuniary benefits”.

In the 17 years that the Delhi Police began booking people under the MCOCA, there has been at least one conviction of an individual, who, the police said, had entered the guilty plea before the completion of the trial period.

Deputy commissioner of police (special cell) Pramod Singh Kushwah said, “We call the sentencing of the six accused the first major conviction under MCOCA because it ran its full course of trial and the accused did not plead guilty.”

Kushwah said the six were arrested by the special cell in a case of cheating, forgery, criminal intimidation and breach of trust, which was registered in 2008. They had cheated a large number of people in Delhi, Haryana and Punjab and gained pecuniary benefits, amassed huge amount of wealth and acquired many assets in Delhi-NCR. They were part of an organised crime syndicate and had been committing crimes very frequently, Kushwah said.

During the probe, Kushwah said, a large number of passports in the name of different persons with work visas of New Zealand and other forged documents such as PAN cards, debit cards, credit cards, shopping cards, mobile phones, SIM cards were recovered from the arrested.