Baburam Kharel

THE GRAVY TRAIN
THE Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police has busted a gang that had been conning people with promises of sending them to the US and Canada on fake Bhutanese refugees cards

. A special squad of the CIB caught three members of the gang from Old Baneshwor after receiving a complaint that Nepali people had been issued Bhutanese refugee cards for sending them to western countries. The arrested trio has been identified as Sujan Dahal, 31, of Biratnagar, Lok Bahadur Bista, 40, of Dadeldhura, and Narendra Bhandari, 40, of Syangja, who had been operating this racket through ‘American European Education Council Pvt Ltd’ located at Old Baneshwor. Deputy Inspector General of Police Rajendra Singh Bhandari, director of the CIB, said the brain behind the racket is Bishnu Karki, who is doing time in Dillibazaar-based jail in connection with committing similar crimes for the last one year. The CIB said the modus operandi of the racket members was to approach gullible foreign job aspirants, show them fake documents of UNHCR, and ask them to deposit over Rs 1.2 million each in their bank accounts before procuring the forged cards of Bhutanese refugees. The con job was a technically clever affair, with the fraudulent Bhutanese documentation being produced through software, scanning and photocopying machines. The trio would scan original cards of refugees and delete the photo and other details using Photoshop. The forged documents looked startlingly like the real thing.

Investigation has led CIB to believe that three to four persons may have entered western countries on forged papers. Bank transactions show the fraudsters amassed over Rs 23 million through their racket. Preliminary investigation shows at least 16 people were duped. Police suspect there could be other victims who have not stepped forward to lodge complaints. Each victim was found to have deposited Rs 1.2 million in his/her bank account under American European Education Council at Kumari Bank. After pocketing the money, the trio would produce forged Bhutanese refugee cards. Police have also confiscated a forged ‘Canada For UNHCR Refugees Identification Card’ issued in the name of Mukunda Singh from the fraudsters. CIB is trying to determine if the arrestees have other co-conspirators.

Published on: 3 July 2011 | The Kathmandu Post