An official said that three people, including two employees of a visa outsourcing company, were detained by the Ahmedabad police for enrolling 28 unwitting Canadian immigration visa applicants’ biometric data without their consent.
Melvyn Christy, Sohil Dewan, Mehul Bharwad, and an unnamed individual were named as defendants in a case filed by the police crime branch in Ahmedabad on July 16 in response to a complaint made by VFS Global, a visa outsourcing and technology services company with a center on Ashram Road here in Ahmedabad.
Bharwad is a former employee of VFS Global, while Christy and Dewan are employed there in Ahmedabad. According to authorities, they were detained on suspicion of forgery, criminal breach of trust, cheating, and criminal conspiracy.
Following an investigation, the city crime branch detained Christy, Dewan, and Bharwad on Wednesday, according to a press statement from the police.
According to the established protocol, Canadian visa applicants must only provide their biometric data, such as their fingerprints, at the VFS Global visa application centers after receiving an appointment letter or a letter with biometric instructions, according to the police.
The firm was notified by the Canadian High Commission on July 5 via email that it had obtained the biometric information of 28 people from the Ahmedabad visa application center run by VFS Global, but that no appointment letters had ever been sent to these people by the Canadian government.
According to the authorities, the firm administrators discovered Christy and Dewan enrolled these 28 people’s biometric data without their consent after reviewing the CCTV footage from the center.
Additionally, it was discovered that the 28 people received fake appointment letters since their names were not included in the company’s official records.
Following the group’s arrest, it was discovered that Bharwad, an immigration agent, had approached the two VFS Global staff members with a proposal to perform biometric enrolment of 28 people without enrolment letters in exchange for Rs 5,000 to Rs 7,000 per person, according to the crime branch.
Without any legitimate documentation, Christy and Dewan phoned these 28 people on various days and registered their biometrics. According to the announcement, the pair utilized various entrance points other than the main entry door to bring these people into the business in order to get through the security setup.
The 28 people were tricked by the agent because they believed the appointment letters they received from the agency were edited using software, according to Prabuddha Sen, Chief Operating Officer (South Asia), VFS Global.
“The agent gave them a forged letter to claim their Canada immigration applications have advanced and they now need to provide their biometric data at their center,” he said.
According to him, this is just another instance of unwary visa applicants falling victim to dishonest or dubious businesses that are profiting from the increased demand for outbound travel from India.
Sen said that Muktesh Chander, a former IPS officer, has been employed by the corporation to keep an eye on such operations.
A day after the FIR was filed, a man came into the VFS Global office in this city and claimed to be one of the 28 people who had provided their biometrics as requested by their immigration agent, according to Chander.
The visa applicant said he was unaware the appointment letter was a fake when he spoke with us. He claimed to have previously paid the agency Rs. 15 lakh, but the agent has been pressing for more. We assured him that because the fraud has now been exposed, he would at least not lose any more money.