Gang of six people got together and duped close to 250 youths and amassed close to Rs 50 crore in a span of 8- 9 months. The victims were asked to cough up Rs 3.5 lakh to Rs 11 lakh – depending on the job profile
Mumbai crime: Gang of six dupes youths promising lucrative jobs
Victims standing in front of the building that housed the office. Around a year and a half ago, the accused Ramesh and his business partner were wanted in a case for duping people in a similar manner
Youngsters aspiring to get lucrative jobs abroad got a rude shock when the consultancy they were depending on turned out to be a con job. A gang of six people got together and duped close to 250 youths and amassed close to Rs 50 crore in a span of 8- 9 months.
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Shaheen Sheikh, one of the accused
Located in a posh Amboli building, the office that ran under the name of Excel International also had two more employees – one at the reception and another in the back office – who did not have any knowledge of the racket.
The mastermind of this show - Ramesh Girish Patel (40) and his companion Shaheen Sheikh – promised the youths, who came from Kolkata, Pune, Telangana and Tamil Nadu, among others of jobs abroad and asked for deposits that went up to R11 lakh, depending on the profile.
Candidates who were software engineers or had diplomas in hotel management had to pay the maximum, while those eyeing jobs of a driver or cook had to pay between Rs 3.5 lakh to 4 lakh.
High-paying jobs
Two victims — one from Delhi and another from Telangana shared with mid-day that during their job search, they spotted the advertisement of this company assuring high-paying jobs abroad. Shaheen, in her 30s, who handled the total procedure asked them to deposit Rs 50,000 as security deposit.
“She was in constant touch with us and had asked me to come on Thursday with the leftover amount and collect all the documents like appointment letter, visa etc. On arriving, I found the office locked and Shaheen’s phone was switched off,” said Rahul, one of the victims, adding that he could not sense anything fishy because the websites of the ‘prospective employers’ looked genuine.
“All the websites are illegitimate and we are looking out for the accused,” said an officer of Amboli police station, who further said the accused are in possession of the original documents of all the victims.
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