Foreign job racket: Man held for cheating 44 of Rs 1.28 crore in TN

COIMBATORE: The Coimbatore rural police arrested a 53-year-old man on Tuesday for cheating 44 people of more than Rs 1.28 crore by promising to get them jobs in the western countries.
A police officer attached with the district crime branch (DCB) said the accused, D Chinnappan alias David Paul, of Subramaniyampalayam near Thudiyalur, had finished BA (economics) in Udhagamandalam in the Nilgiris district and moved to Coimbatore more than a decade ago. “David Paul ran a firm called Goodness Ventures from an apartment at Thudiyalur, engaging in real estate and financial consulting. He befriended Rajkumar, 50, of the Nilgiris district in 2019. He told Rajkumar that he met a foreign national in Kerala who asked him to send people for work to European countries and the US,” the police officer said.
Believing David, Rajkumar shared the information with his closed friend S Sahayaraj, 54, of Mugalivakkam in Chennai, and they decided to go abroad for work. “The duo paid a total of Rs 12.49 lakh to David for the purpose in November and December 2019. They also shared the information with their other friends across the state. At least 42 of their friends expressed interest in a foreign job and paid money for the purpose. Sahayaraj and Rajkumar collected more than Rs 1.16 crore from their friends in 2019 and 2020 and transferred the money to David’s bank accounts,” the officer said.
Meanwhile, the pandemic intervened in 2020 and lockdowns were imposed in countries across the world.
“David citied the pandemic and evaded inquiries on jobs. After the relaxation of lockdown norms, Sahayaraj and Rajkumar approached David again. David gave them offer letters from a company based in the US. When Rajkumar checked with the firm, he realised that the letter was fake. So they asked David to return Rs 1.28 crore they gave him,” the officer said.
As David failed to repay the money, Sahayaraj lodged a complaint with district superintendent of police V Badrinarayanan a few days ago. The SP directed the DCB officials to take necessary action.
Subsequently, police registered a case against David under Sections 406, 420 and 468 of the Indian Penal Code and arrested him. Police also seized his car. He was produced before a judicial magistrate on Tuesday evening and later remanded in judicial custody.