Man who posed as Haryana chief secretary behind ₹35-cr immigration fraud: Mohali police
The accused, Sarabjit Singh Sandhu, is estimated to have defrauded nearly 300 visa aspirants from across Punjab by promising them life abroad
The 28-year-old man, arrested last week for duping people by masquerading as the chief secretary of Haryana, has defrauded hundreds of visa hopefuls of a whopping ₹35 crore, police said on Friday.
The accused, Sarabjit Singh Sandhu, hailing from Achint Kot near Attari, Amritsar, is estimated to have defrauded nearly 300 visa aspirants from across Punjab by promising them life abroad, shared Mohali senior superintendent of police (SSP) Sandeep Garg, while addressing the media.
Out of the 300 victims, Mohali police have managed to trace 100 people and recovered as many as 60 passports with fake visa stamps. Among the victims are nearly 15 genuine immigration agents who were also duped by Sandhu, a business management graduate.
Two aides in police net
Following Sandhu’s arrest on September 22, police also arrested a 35-year-old man from Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh, who arranged fake visas and bank accounts for Sandhu in Delhi, Karnataka and other states.
Identified as Rahul, the accused holds an MBA in finance. Sandhu’s another aide, Ravi Mishra, 27, a science graduate and a resident of Sector 18, Gurgaon, is also in police net. He also helped Sandhu with setting up fake bank accounts.
Of the total money taken from the victims, Sandhu would pocket 70%, while the remaining would be distributed among Rahul and Ravi. He was operating two offices in Mohali — one in Sector 82 and Dera Bassi, besides running a pub. Of the total defrauded money, as per police, Sandhu has spent nearly ₹70 lakh on his two offices and pub.
{{/usCountry}}Of the total money taken from the victims, Sandhu would pocket 70%, while the remaining would be distributed among Rahul and Ravi. He was operating two offices in Mohali — one in Sector 82 and Dera Bassi, besides running a pub. Of the total defrauded money, as per police, Sandhu has spent nearly ₹70 lakh on his two offices and pub.
{{/usCountry}}Elaborate ploy to pass off as high-ranking govt official
{{/usCountry}}Elaborate ploy to pass off as high-ranking govt official
{{/usCountry}}Police officials said Sandhu had been conning people since 2015. His elaborate ploy to pass off as the Haryana chief secretary included armed security guards, mainly ex-servicemen, who would sport Punjab Police T-shirts, luxury cars and fake identity cards to project himself as a high-ranking government official.
{{/usCountry}}Police officials said Sandhu had been conning people since 2015. His elaborate ploy to pass off as the Haryana chief secretary included armed security guards, mainly ex-servicemen, who would sport Punjab Police T-shirts, luxury cars and fake identity cards to project himself as a high-ranking government official.
{{/usCountry}}To bolster his fraudulent act, he had affixed a flag on his car reading “chief secretary of Haryana” and installed red/blue beacons, creating the illusion of a VIP vehicle.
{{/usCountry}}To bolster his fraudulent act, he had affixed a flag on his car reading “chief secretary of Haryana” and installed red/blue beacons, creating the illusion of a VIP vehicle.
{{/usCountry}}A total of five Vidhan Sabha stickers and a VIP pass, which ensure smooth entry to the Punjab and Haryana Vidhan Sabha, were found in his possession.
Since his arrest last week, police have also recovered ₹50.4 lakh cash, 99 gm gold, a rifle and pistol, wireless sets, red/blue beacons; and fake police and home secretary ID cards, high-ranking government officials’ flags, uniforms, international driving licences, passports and visas. Besides, records and documents, police have also seized two Toyota Fortuners, two Ford Endeavours, one Hyundai Creta and one Maruti Suzuki Swift.
According to the police, Sandhu is already facing multiple cases of cheating in Moga, Amritsar, Sangrur and Gurdaspur. He has been declared a proclaimed officer (PO) in a case registered at Sangrur.
Claimed he owned company in US
Police said Sandhu was deceiving unwary immigration agents from across Punjab by claiming that he owned a US-registered company, named Sandhu Transport and that he could arrange visas for both US and Canada by showing the applicants as his workers.
Believing his claims, the immigration agents would send their clients to Sandhu in exchange for commission.
To mislead the victims, while handing over their passports with the fake visa stamps, he would use envelopes of VFS Global and place barcodes on them to give the impression that they arrived from the respective embassies via post.
“The unsuspecting applicants would purchase flight tickets thinking they had secured the visa. But would end up being detained by immigration authorities after being caught travelling with fake visa documents,” said the SSP.
Detailing Mohali police’s efforts to tackle immigration frauds, SSP Garg said, “Police have registered 55 such cases in the past three months. Out of 55, 19 have been registered against travel agents, who collectively committed a fraud of ₹20 crore.”
