The duo, who ran a placement agency, which was based in Bhandup conned nearly 250 victims through ads in newspapers and collected at least Rs 30,000 from each of them
Here's another reason not to trust ads that claim to provide quick employment overseas. 250 international employment seekers in Mumbai were conned by a Bhandup-based placement agency on the pretext of helping them secure employment overseas.
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The victims were cheated by a company named ‘United Manpower’, run by Aasif (L) and Faizan Sheikh. Pics/Rajesh Gupta
The job candidates, cheated by a company named ‘United Manpower’ said they were lured with high-paying salaries, free food and living spaces abroad and were asked to pay job processing fees between Rs 30,000 to Rs 50,000.
Modus operandi
The first step included offering job openings through an advertisement that read ‘Free Visas’ for Singapore, Dubai, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Those who called on the numbers provided in the ads were called in for a meeting at the Bhandup office, located in the basement of Dreams Mall.
The job seekers were interviewed and given fake job agreements, only after their passport was submitted and the processing fees were paid. The victims are in a state of shock after learning that their passports were also taken away along with the money they had paid. The firm owners shut shop and fled, days before the selected candidates were scheduled to fly abroad.
The victims realised it was a scam only when the mobile phone numbers of the scamster duo Faizan Shaikh and Aasif Shaikh were unreachable. Upon reaching the company’s office, they found that it was shut. It was then that the victims brought the matter to the notice of cops.
On May 21, the victims first went to Bhandup police station and gave a written complaint.
On Monday, at least 60 people reached the police station to lodge an FIR against the accused. A police officer said they have received complaints from 85 victims and more have approached them in the matter. An FIR under Sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code was registered on Monday night.
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