Many falling prey to fake job assurances abroad

Kathmandu, Apr. 22: Over the first seven days of the Nepali New Year 2080 BS, the Kathmandu Valley Crime Investigation Office (KVCIO) arrested at least half-a-dozen individuals on the charge of cheating millions of rupees under fake job assurances abroad.

According to the officers, Nepalis easily fall prey to such cheaters as they are desperate to fly abroad, be it the Gulf or the western countries, at any cost.

On April 18, Tika Bahadur Bhandari, 23, of Sindhuplachowk, was arrested for cheating over Rs. 1.5 million from 10 individuals under the assurances of lucrative jobs in Portugal.

On the same day, the KVCIO arrested Ujjwal Khadka, 44, of Bhaktapur. Khadka had assured a job of Rs. 400,000 per month in the USA, Germany, the UK and Japan, among other countries. 

Khadka had asked for Rs. 3 million to manage the process for a job in the desired country. A complaint was filed against Khadka by Sunil Gurung and 19 others claiming that Khadka had collected over Rs. 35.6 million from them.

Talking to The Rising Nepal on several occasions, officers at the KVCIO and Anti-Human Trafficking Bureau (AHTB) said that cheaters searched for people in economic trouble and lured them with lucrative job assurances abroad.

According to the AHTB, Nepalis are paying millions of rupees for jobs like maid and cleaner in the Gulf countries as well.

Offices are set up and trained manpower are deployed to lure the Nepalis under the fake assurances as well.

Issuing a statement on April 16, the KVCIO made public the arrests of 28-year-old Sudhan Kumar Shahi and 39-year-old Anil Shrestha.

Shahi and Shrestha are proprietor and managing director of Town Planning-based Greenleaf International Consultancy and Thamel-based Nepal Snowfall Mountains Trek and Expedition respectively. 

The duo had collected Rs. 500,000 each from the victims by assuring a job with a monthly salary of Rs. 100,000 in Italy, South Korea, New Zealand and Portugal. As per the complaint received by the KVCIO, 22 individuals have claimed that the duo had collected over Rs. 6.6 million from them.

Many individuals are also found cheating gullible Nepalis assuring them to provide a job under the Government to government (G2G) agreement.

Sunil Kumar Yadav, 26, of Bardiya district, was arrested on April 11. Yadav had demanded Rs. 1.8 million from the victims for a job with a monthly salary of Rs. 190,000 in agriculture sector in Israel under government quota under the G2G agreement.

Yadav had collected Rs. 3.1 million from three individuals and went out of contact. 

Officers at the AHTB requested Nepalis to reach a nearby police station or the foreign employment offices before believing in any job offer abroad.

Police informed that many Nepalis gave the money despite knowing the risks and that millions of rupees are not required to go abroad legally for a job.

When the middlemen flee or go out of contact, the victims reach the police saying they were being cheated. 

Citing that legal job process for abroad takes place through government offices, authorities have requested public to not pay money to the middlemen and get stranded abroad.