Man sold house, broke FDs for Austria job cheated of Rs 1.4 crore

The victim approached Malad police after he received a call from Telangana police, which had arrested the duo for duping several citizens in a similar manner. Pic/Istock

A former employee of a recently shut down newspaper was tricked into paying Rs 1.4 crore on the promise of a job in Austria, which paid a monthly salary of $5,000 and a $75,000 gift from the employer.

The victim sold his house, liquidated his fixed deposits, borrowed money from friends and relatives to pay the swindlers the money in 35 transactions over the last eight months. Two Nigerian nationals, a man identified as Diongue Mohammed alias Nwosu Donals Prosper, 34 and a woman, Musa Halimat, 29 were arrested in the matter by the Malad police on Thursday. According to sources in the Malad police, Manoj Kashikar, 38, used to work for DNA India newspaper in the city. He had applied for the job through a job recruitment portal online when he was laid off by the paper earlier this year.

In March, Kashikar received an email and a WhatsApp message from a Haider Williams saying his CV had been shortlisted by the 'Roggal Group of Hotel Industries' for the post of an 'assistant secretary' in Austria. He was asked to pay a processing fee of Rs 20,000 for the visa and other necessary documentation. His address was noted down and he was given a bank account number to transfer the money to. Kashikar was then told to pay further charges as his address was supposedly 'incorrect' because of which the visa could not be sent.

After the second money transfer, Kashikar received a call, purportedly from the Customs department saying there is a parcel in his name along with $75,000 (around R53 lakh) from a company and that to receive it, he will have to pay further charges. Kashikar refused to take the money and asked for just the documents. When he verified the development with Williams, he was told that not taking the money involved a lengthy process in which the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) would also get involved and he would have to pay a huge tax, a source from Malad police explained. He was sent a purported RBI link where the tax was mentioned.

Greed for the Rs 53 lakh and a monthly payment of $5,000 (Rs 3.5 lakh), led to Kashikar paying Rs 1.4 crore before Williams stopped receiving his calls and replying to his messages. He was then contacted by certain security agencies, which prompted him to approach the Malad police.

It turns out that the fraud was busted by Telangana police's cyber cell with the arrest of the two Nigerian nationals, who cheated several citizens in a similar manner, from Delhi. They found email ids and mobile numbers through which Kashikar was contacted. A team from Mumbai police was sent to Telangana to take custody of the duo, now remanded in police custody till October 26.

$5,000
Monthly salary promised

$75,000
'Gift' from firm along with visa papers

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