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Two Russian citizens, a student and a restaurant manager managed to run a fake international recruitment agency out of Patel Nagar in central Delhi for almost a year. The defendants promised to provide work permit visas to job seekers who wanted to work in Poland, Germany, Luxembourg and other European countries. Police said the office appeared to be legitimate and the presence of two “foreign” citizens led the victims to believe their money would buy them visas.
The gang specializes in defrauding the gullible and has defrauded nearly 65 people so far.Every victim has been scammed $60,000 to $75,000. On Sunday, Delhi Police said they arrested all four members of the gang.
To make their “scam” appear authentic, the defendants provided their targets with an office, an Instagram page and a WhatsApp channel.
The matter came to light last month when a Nagpur-based student claimed that he had contacted companies in Delhi to get a work visa for Poland but was scammed $75,000.
The company, WGA Visa India Pvt., has been operating from an office near the Patel Nagar metro station since April 2023. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Rakesh Paweriya’s team, led by ACP Pawan Kumar and Inspector Virendra Singh, conducted multiple raids.
“We discovered that the complainant, along with dozens of other victims, were defrauded of large sums of money on the pretext of providing work permit visas. We also noticed that the scammers contacted the complainant via Instagram and then shared links to their fake websites. said DCP Paweriya.
On March 18, his team found the office and arrested 33-year-old Artem Tolkachev from there. Police said Tolkachev tried to escape.
“He was asked to provide a copy of a valid license/permit issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is required to operate an immigration service, but he failed to do so. During a search of the premises, various incriminating documents and equipment were found. Meanwhile, the trustee Irkachev tried to escape but was overpowered by the police. He revealed the name of the partner who was arrested at the house of DLF Capital Greens in Moti Nagar,” Paweriya added.
The defendant was identified as Igor Silenko. Based on interrogation, their Indian employees Sagar Sharma and Rohit Kumar were also arrested from Delhi.
During interrogation, the defendants revealed that they operated unauthorized overseas work visa agencies. Investigators said the accused, to evade suspicion, started business in the name of auto-rickshaw drivers. He was also appointed as a “director” of the company and was offered a commission of 15%. Police said Silenko met the auto driver while traveling in central Delhi and hired him.
Investigators revealed that the men worked for a Russian named Natsya, who managed the company’s day-to-day affairs from Russia through closed-circuit television installed in offices.
“Everything was done under the supervision of Natsya. The motive was to defraud young innocent job seekers in India on the pretext of providing false work permits in non-existent companies in Poland, Germany, Lithuania, Netherlands, Luxembourg and other European countries , because Indians are “most keen” to go abroad. No matter what the cost,” Paveria said.
The group created an Instagram page WgaPoland and placed ads online. They also hire employees by “phoning in” victims’ applications. According to police, they provided the caller with a written script.
Sharma holds a diploma in hotel management and worked at a hotel in Rajender Place, where he met Sirenko.He was hired and paid as an office manager $50,000 per month. Police said he would meet with the victim at his office.
Kumar graduated from Dayal Singh College and is pursuing MBA. He was employed by the defendant as a receptionist and had been working in the office since July 2023.
Investigators said Sirenko came to India in October 2022 and had a business visa. He and Tolkachev started the business in April 2023, when Tolkachev came to India. “He visited different places in India, Nepal and the United Arab Emirates. Later, Tolkachev converted his tourist visa to a business visa,” the official added.
Police said they were looking for other accomplices who were at large.
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