Ahmedabad: Chandkheda man loses Rs 55 lakh in US visa scam

AHMEDABAD: A 32-year-old man from Chandkheda lost Rs 55 lakh to a travel agent from Vadnagar and four men from an angadia firm in Navrangpura after being promised a US visa. Haresh Patel, a resident of Padmprabhunagar in Chandkheda, in his FIR at Navrangpura police station said he runs a PVC furniture business in New Chandkheda. In June 2021, Haresh met a travel agent from Vadnagar named Manoj Chaudhary, who promised him a US visa for Rs 55 lakh.
Haresh said Chaudhary told him to make the payment at an angadia firm named M Patel and Company at Heera-Panna market near Stadium Crossroads in Navrangpura.
According to the FIR, Chaudhary told Haresh that he would have to first pay Rs 30 lakh and after reaching the US, he would have to pay Rs 25 lakh. Haresh was told to deposit the money at the M Patel and Company angadia firm. On October 26, Haresh and a friend went to M Patel and Company and deposited Rs 30 lakh with employees named Vinu Patel and Bharat Bharwad. He gave rest of Rs 25 lakh on the same day to another employee, Sunil Patel. Haresh learned from Vinu that the angadia firm was run by a man from Mehsana named Mahesh Patel.
On the same day, Chaudhary sent Haresh a flight ticket to Delhi, said the FIR. Haresh said that he stayed in a hotel in New Delhi where Chaudhary came and promised him the US ticket and visa in a couple of days. After staying in the hotel for 11 days, Haresh returned to Ahmedabad.
Chaudhary told him that whenever he got the US visa and ticket, he would be called to Delhi to fly to the US. Haresh said he continued to pursue the matter with Chaudhary but did not get any satisfactory response. After a month when he went to the M Patel and Company office, he found it locked. All the employees had gone incommunicado. Haresh had in January submitted an application to city police to probe into the case. Later, Navrangpura police registered a complaint for breach of trust and criminal conspiracy against Chaudhary and four employees.