The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police has arrested three persons involved in conning people with promises of sending them to the US and Canada on fake Bhutanese refugees cards.
The Ekantipur on Monday reported that a special squad of the CIB caught three members of the gang from Old Baneshwor after receiving a complaint that Nepali people had been issued Bhutanese refugee cards for sending them to Western countries.
The arrested trio has been identified as Sujan Dahal, 31, of Biratnagar, Lok Bahadur Bista, 40, of Dadeldhura, and Narendra Bhandari, 40, of Syangja, who had been operating this racket through ‘American European Education Council Pvt. Ltd.’ located at Old Baneshwor.
Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police Rajendra Singh Bhandari, Director of the CIB, said the brain behind the racket is Bishnu Karki, who is doing time in Dillibazaar-based jail in connection with committing similar crimes for the last one year, according to the report.
It further reported that the CIB said the modus operandi of the racket members was to approach gullible foreign job aspirants, show them fake documents of UNHCR, and ask them to deposit over Rs. 1.2 million each in their bank accounts before procuring the forged cards of Bhutanese refugees.
The con job was a technically clever affair, with the fraudulent Bhutanese documentation being produced through software, scanning and photocopying machines, added Ekantipur.
The trio would scan original cards of refugees and delete the photo and other details using Photoshop software. The forged documents looked startlingly like the real thing.
Investigation has led CIB to believe that three to four persons may have entered Western countries on forged papers. However, the Bhutan News Service couldn’t verify the claim immediately.
Bank transactions show the fraudsters amassed over Rs. 23 million through their racket.
Preliminary investigation shows at least 16 people were duped, said DIG Bhandari.
Police suspect there could be other victims who have not stepped forward to lodge complaints. Each victim was found to have deposited Rs. 1.2 million in his/her bank account under American European Education Council at Kumari Bank. After pocketing the money, the trio would produce forged Bhutanese refugee cards.
Police have also confiscated a forged ‘Canada For UNHCR Refugees Identification Card’ issued in the name of Mukunda Singh from the fraudsters. CIB is trying to determine if the arrestees have other co-conspirators, said the report
