By Keshav Raj Poudel, Kathmandu, Feb. 19: The filthy rich land owners, of late, have been fraudulently showing their property as bank balance in the name of those willing to fly to the USA, the UK and other European countries.

The property owners take commission proportionate to the amount of property shown as bank balance.

This has made foreign employment even more expensive for Nepalis.

For an instance, if a person willing to travel overseas shows Rs. 4 million as bank balance to the concerned embassy, the person from whom the amount has been shown charges Rs. 200,000 as a commission.  Mostly, education consultancies take the responsibility for this entirely commission-based transaction.

These fraudulent transactions are apparenetly a win-win situation for all the parties; person fleeing abroad, education consultancies and the property lenders who charge commission.

Sahakul Thapa, Senior Superintendent of Police at Metropolitan Crime Division, said, “Since these transactions take place with mutual agreement, the police have not been able to take action against them.”

The property of lenders, however, isn’t secured, he said.

The police, on Sunday evening, had nabbed two persons from Thimi, Bhaktapur, alleging them of defrauding Rs. 6 million, the amount they borrowed from a lady to show bank balance during visa processing.

Ram Chandra Kunwar, 34, and Ganesh Lama, 34, residents of Imadol, Lalitpur were the arrestees.

Kunwar had defrauded Rs. 6 million from a woman of Tarakeshwor Municipality-2 by luring her with a handsome commission for the amount to be kept as his bank balance so that he could be eligible for visa processing for the States.

Kunwar had collected the money from the bank a day after he deposited borrowing from the lady by submitting forged documents and driving license to the bank. And they cut off the contact with the money lending lady.

Metropolitan Crime Division, Teku, arrested the duo from Thimi on Sunday.