In the horde to study, work, and settle abroad, many cases of Gujaratis resorting to shortcuts beyond fair means have come to light. Cases like trespassing borders through neighbouring countries, or throwing cash for an illegal passage abroad have left visa aspirants with nothing but life and monetary damages.

One such case was reported in Surat, where a man seeking a work visa for his wife fell for a scam and lost money in lakhs of rupees.

Fraudulent visa firm in Surat

Kalpesh Patel, a resident of Punagam, Surat, has been scammed by Jaydeep Patel, who allegedly runs a fraudulent visa firm in Surat.

Jaydeep has been accused of scamming many such visa aspirants for countries like Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

Surat’s Utran police has filed a case, while Jaydeep is currently on the run with the amount.

Work visa scam

Kalpesh Patel, 29, wished to send his wife Bhumi to Canada for work and had landed upon a Facebook advertisement offering a work visa.

The ad was posted by Eagon Immigration, based at Meridian Business Centre in Surat’s Mota Varachha.

Kalpesh approached the firm, where he met Jaydeep, who offered him a deal for a work visa. The deal constituted a series of payments to be made by Kalpesh: ₹15 lakh for a work visa, ₹10 lakh as immigration fees, and ₹5 lakh in 10 monthly instalments after Bhumi gets a job in Canada.

Kalpesh submitted Bhumi’s government documents along with ₹1 lakh in advance.

To cook up a legitimate story, Jaydeep presented a security cover in a without-date cheque of ₹1 lakh with his signature on it.

Jaydeep even signed a notarized bond that required Kalpesh to pay ₹2 lakh to him upon Bhumi receiving the mail for her job offer.

The couple eventually did receive job offer mail from Canada Shoppers Landmark Mall based in Regina, Canada, for which Kalpesh paid the said ₹2 lakh.

Jaydeep then presented a demand for another ₹5 lakh, for which Kalpesh gave him a ₹3 lakh cheque.

Following this payment, Bhumi was advised to prepare for a medical check-up to be conducted in Ahmedabad between Sept 15 and 20.

But the couple received no such notification, and Jaydeep switched off his phone as well.

Upon visiting Jaydeep’s office, Kalpesh came to know that the accused had shut down his operations and had absconded with the couple’s total payment of ₹6 lakh.

Kalpesh learned that the perpetrator had also scammed 25-30 more such people to the tune of similar amounts. Following this, a police complaint was filed.

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