Mumbai: Couple duped out of Rs 27 lakh over job in UK, visa; woman held

A woman has been arrested in Mumbai after she and a man allegedly cheated a couple of Rs 27 lakh under the pretext of helping them with a job in London and visas to the United Kingdom police have said reported news agency PTIThe arrest of the accused identified as Akanksha Rajendra Tiwari may help the police uncover more such cases he said on Tuesday Police are also looking for another accused in the case reported PTIIn his complaint to the Kandivali police Vikas Vidur Kumar Khativeda an engineering consultant said his wife Monika Dahal wanted to work in London While searching for agencies in Mumbai offering jobplusvisa services she came across a private company on social media reported PTIThe company had posted several stories claiming to offer jobs as well as visa services for the UK Canada Australia Europe and other countries Dahal contacted the number provided and was introduced to the accused Akanksha Tiwari said the officialCiting the FIR the official said the couple met Tiwari in an office in Raghuleela Mall Kandivali Based on the instructions of Tiwari and one Rohit Songara who claimed to be the company owner they paid Rs 27 lakh between June 2024 and May this year he said reported PTIHowever even after repeated promises neither the work visa for Dahal nor the dependent visa for her husband was provided Both accused subsequently began avoiding themSoon after the couple found out that the Kandivali office of the company was shut and that it had moved to the Malad area but the accused were not found there eitherRealising that they had been cheated the husband filed a complaint with the Kandivali police the official saidPolice registered a case against Tiwari and Songara and subsequently arrested the woman the official said adding efforts are being made to nab the other accusedWoman cheated of Rs 7 lakh in online task fraudIn another case fraudsters duped a 26yearold woman out of Rs 7 lakh in an online task fraud police said on Tuesday reported PTIThe woman even mortgaged the jewellery her family owned to raise the money they asked her to transfer said an official of Ghatkopar police stationAs per the complaint the woman came across an advertisement about a parttime Anganwadi daycare centre job while watching reels on social media and clicked the link reported PTIUnidentified fraudsters then contacted her and engaged her in chatting on WhatsApp and later a Telegram groupThey first gave her an online task and after she completed it she received a message about the receipt of payment in her account reported PTILater they provided her with more tasks and showed a payment of Rs 1040 in her account after finishing When she asked how she would claim the amount they asked her to deposit Rs 178000 into certain bank accounts which she didWhen the fraudsters contacted her again on Sunday and asked her to deposit more money the woman mortgaged her familys jewellery to raise the amountShe realised that she had been duped only when the fraudsters stopped replying to her messagesGhatkopar police registered an FIR against three persons under relevant sections of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita for cheating and other offences and further investigation is underway the official addedWith inputs from PTI