Promised jobs abroad, but left high and dry

Twenty people drag overseas job agent to police, say he cheated many

Promised jobs abroad, but left high and dry

Twenty people drag overseas job agent to police, say he cheated many

The accused: Sreeraj

The accused was identified by the police as Sreeraj, owner of the Sri Balaji International agency at Tavakere.
In a complaint filed with the Mico Layout police, victims said Sreeraj would charge a candidate between Rs 50,000 and Rs 2.5 lakh, promising to get them lucrative jobs in Malaysia, Singapore and the UK.

"Preliminary investigations have revealed Sreeraj cheated about 50 people and made around Rs 50 lakh," said a police official.

Those who handed over Sreeraj to the police included people who said their friends and relatives had been left in the lurch in Malaysia.

Distress calls

They told the police they learnt of the racket when they received frantic calls from Malaysia seeking help. The complainants said when they first approached Sreeraj and asked him what he planned to do about the people he had left in their hotel rooms in Malaysia when he sneaked back to India, he assured them he would return all the money, but kept avoiding it every time he was approached.

The police said other aspirants who were looking to work abroad learned of what had happened in Malaysia and also began demanding their money back.

Finally, they grew tired of waiting and on Tuesday a group of people barged into Sreeraj's home and brought him over to the Mico Layout police station.

The duped: The people who took him to Mico Layout police station

Setting the trap

The police said Sreeraj would put up advertisements in leading newspapers.

When interested people would approach him, he would ask them about their qualifications and salary in India, then allegedly talk about a pay packet abroad that was many times higher.

"I will give you a three time higher salary in Malaysia and other countries," he allegedly told the last batch of job-seekers, which numbered seven to eight people, including three women. "You must pay me something now and the rest of my charges you can pay after getting permanent work abroad."

The complainants said Sreeraj would then call his Malaysian friends, who were also involved in the racket.

He would then allegedly ask the job-seekers to speak to the Malaysians, identified as David and Raman, and this would impress the candidates. The complainants said after he had won their confidence, Sreeraj would ask the job-seekers to pay up the rest of his charges since he had to get visas and other things done.

Fake visas

Sreeraj allegedly made fake visas and took the hopefuls to Malaysia, put them up in a hotel and made them meet David.

Then he is said to have told them his father-in-law was ill and in a very critical stage and that he had to go back, but they should not worry as David would take care of them. After about 20 days and no job, the youths realised something was wrong and called their families.

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