Pune immigration firm accused of defrauding hundreds seeking Canada visas

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A Pune-based immigration company closed its office, reportedly deceiving 300-400 job aspirants nationwide. A complaint was filed with Kandivli police station in August last year, but an FIR has not been registered. The complainant alleges police support for the accused, who allegedly collected Rs 80,000 per candidate.

Aalap Shah, the owner of Fastrack Education Arise International in Kandivli, filed a complaint against Pune-based Tuyo Immigration. Shah submitted applications for 14 candidates seeking a Canada visa, paying approximately Rs 12 lakh. The immigration company closed due to disputes, and one of the culprits started a new company, demanding repayment for the visas. Kandivali police have taken no action on the complaint since August last year, according to Shah.

"I've been receiving emails from people across India reporting similar scams, where the company allegedly took money to arrange Canada visas. The estimated count of duped aspirants nationwide is between 300-400, and there's already one FIR registered in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh," said Shah.

"I initially signed a contract with the company, but when they started defaulting, I chose not to renew. Instead of addressing the case, the Kandivli police questioned why I didn't renew the agreement," Shah added.

The complaint states that in January 2023, as the offenders began defaulting on their obligations, a meeting took place with some of them and Shah. Disputes arose, leading the offenders to halt processing client files. Aparna Nair, one of the offenders, informed Shah that Tuyo Immigration was dissolved. She and Anindita, another offender, formed a new company and insisted Shah pay the entire amount again for file processing.

"Our client was surprised to hear the change and therefore, he was compelled to consult a few more Canada immigration advisors. Upon hearing from some of the consultants, our client was surprised to know that these files which the offenders were to process don't qualify and they will not get the visa. Our client further learnt that the documents provided were fake and they had made all fake application IDs without our client's knowledge and consent. Our client is not aware of the modus operandi adopted by the offenders for creating a profile as, till date, the offenders did not share any further information about any of the applications," reads the complaint letter given to Kandivli police in August.

The complaint was given against Mohit Kumar Mogha and Anindita Sarkar, the designated partners of Tuyo Immigration, Aparna Nair, and other unknown persons under sections 34, 405, 415, 418, 420, r/w 120 B of IPC, but the police are yet to register a case in the matter.