Editor's Blog

Indian police have arrested at least 5 people and charged them with various offenses relating to defrauding hundreds of people by promising them visas to Australia and New Zealand, according to media reports from India.

Police have seized some 400 passports held by Royal Education Consultants in Jalandhar, a city in the northwest of Punjab, India. The passports belonged to people from various districts across Punjab and Chandigarh who paid thousands of dollars on the promise of receiving ‘work permits’ and student visas for Australia and New Zealand.

Media reports estimate the fraud committed by the firm could amount to ‘crores of rupees’ (a ‘crore’ which is 10,000,000 rupees is equivalent to about AU$210,000.)

Police suspect that some of the passports are fakes and are in the process of verifying the authenticity of all the travel documents.

The company’s owner, Gangandeep has absconded but several of his employees have been arrested and charged with cheating, breach of trust and forgery.

One media report alleges that some employees who have avoided arrest are working with other immigration firms in India and cite a case where a victim of the fraud was assaulted for asking for his money-back.