The Kochi city police on Monday arrested a couple hailing from Palluruthy on the charge of duping over 100 nurses by promising to arrange them jobs overseas.
The arrested were identified as Riya Agnes Frank, 27, and her husband Binoy Thankachan, 33, who allegedly cheated the nurses of crores of rupees through their firm named Career Consultancy. The accused had been on the run for nearly five months and were taken into custody by the city police from Mumbai.
No valid licence
Investigations revealed that the consultancy did not have valid licences for conducting recruitments. The couple allegedly collected Rs 2.85 lakh each from 110 nurses by promising them job visas to Germany, Denmark and Austria. So far, the police have received 60 complaints in this connection.
“The consultancy, which lured the victims through advertisements in dailies and online platforms, also conducted telephonic interviews’’, officials said, adding that several victims paid the money without a second thought as they had known Riya, who had worked as a nurse in a few hospitals.
“They had demanded a total amount of Rs 4.5 lakh, of which Rs 2.85 lakh was to be paid before giving the visa”, officials said. On arrest, the accused confessed to conducting the recruitment by obtaining a subcontract from a Mumbai-based firm run by one Khantil Shah. Two days ago, the Santa Cruz police in Mumbai arrested Shah on charge of cheating 550 job applicants by promising to arrange job visas in the three European countries. Meanwhile, the police are also searching for Riya’s father, Franklin, who went into hiding after the couple’s arrest.
They allegedly cheated around 100 nurses of crores of rupees through their firm
