Vadodara Visa Fraud: Beauty Parlour Owner Loses ₹1.80 Lakh in UK Visa Scam
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Summarized by AI; it may make mistakes. Check important info
A Vadodara beauty parlour owner has filed a police complaint against a visa agent for allegedly cheating her of ₹1.80 lakh on the pretext of arranging a visa to London and issuing two cheques that could not be encashed.
Viharikaben Niravbhai Patel, a resident of Pancham Blossom on Khodiyarnagar Road in Sayajipura, runs a beauty parlour to support her family. According to her complaint, she paid ₹1.80 lakh and handed over her original passport to Alpeshbhai Sureshbhai Patel, a resident of Patel Park Society on Old RTO Road in Vadodara, for visa processing.
Agent Promised UK Visa Within Six Months
Viharikaben said she married Nirav Patel, who lives in London, in 2017. After the marriage, her husband went to London and promised to take her there, but she was unable to join him. She subsequently began looking for a visa agency to help her travel to the UK.
In 2022, she came into contact with Alpeshbhai through people who had previously rented accommodation at her mother's house. He allegedly claimed to have helped several people travel abroad by working as a visa agent.
When Viharikaben discussed her plans to move to London, Alpeshbhai assured her that he would arrange the visa and all the necessary documents within six months for ₹5 lakh. Trusting his assurances, she handed over her passport and paid him a total of ₹1.80 lakh towards the process.
- Amount paid: ₹1.80 lakh towards a promised UK visa and documentation process costing ₹5 lakh.
- Passport returned, money unpaid: The agent allegedly returned her passport but failed to refund the money, despite issuing two cheques.
Two Cheques Failed to Recover Her Money
According to the complaint, Alpeshbhai failed to arrange the visa despite the passage of considerable time. When Viharikaben repeatedly demanded the return of her money and passport, he allegedly issued her a cheque for ₹1.80 lakh from Oriental Bank of Commerce on October 6, 2025.
In January, Alpeshbhai allegedly issued another cheque drawn on the State Bank of India. This time, the bank reportedly informed her that the signature was incorrect.
Although Viharikaben eventually received her passport back, she has not recovered the ₹1.80 lakh she paid for the visa process.
