Mahim Police Book 2 Women For ₹1.30 Crore Fraud

The Mahim police have registered a case against two women employees of a Mumbai-based overseas recruitment company for allegedly misusing the company's name and collecting money from job aspirants without the knowledge of the management.

The accused, Shruti Sanjay Walawalkar and Shruti C.R., allegedly facilitated overseas employment for 433 candidates and caused an estimated loss of ₹1.30 crore to the company, Multilink Management Consultant Pvt. Ltd.

According to the FIR, the complaint was filed by Albert Joseph Abalarthik, the owner of Multilink Management Consultant Pvt. Ltd. The company was established in 1993 and has been operating from Mahim since 1994.

The company recruits candidates for jobs abroad and coordinates their interviews, documentation, medical examinations, visas, and air tickets with foreign employers. The complainant stated that the company recently learned about discrepancies after a candidate, Raja Mahapatra, from Odisha, contacted his foreign employer regarding pending salary and expenses incurred for joining the company.

Mahapatra reportedly showed a screenshot of a ₹40,000 PhonePe payment made to an account in the name of Shruti C.R. The transaction details allegedly mentioned an HDFC Bank account, with transaction ID and UTR number.

Another candidate, Naresh Ora, from Andhra Pradesh, also reportedly informed the company that he had made payments to Shruti C.R.'s account through another employee, Shruti Sanjay Walawalkar, after being promised overseas employment using the name of Multilink Management Consultant Pvt. Ltd.

When the company checked its accounts, the name of the candidate was reportedly not found in its records. The management subsequently questioned the two employees, but they allegedly gave evasive replies.

The company then launched an internal inquiry, during which Walawalkar allegedly admitted to using the company's name without its knowledge and collecting money through accounts of people known to them to send candidates abroad for jobs.

Walawalkar reportedly initially provided a list of 298 candidates, but the company's subsequent investigation allegedly revealed that the two employees had facilitated overseas employment for a total of 433 candidates by collecting money without the company's knowledge.

The complaint further alleges that candidates were asked to make payments towards air tickets at Trinity Air Travels Tours Pvt. Ltd. and send the payment receipts to Walawalkar, who then forwarded these receipts to Siddharth Bind, a resident of Mulund.

Bind allegedly deposited the receipts with Multilink in the names of the respective candidates. The police have registered a case against the two women employees under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.

The incident highlights the need for job aspirants to be cautious when dealing with recruitment agencies and to verify the authenticity of job offers before making any payments.

The case is currently under investigation, and the police are likely to arrest the accused soon.

The incident has caused a significant loss to the company and has affected the lives of many job aspirants who were duped by the accused.

It remains to be seen how the company will recover from this loss and what measures will be taken to prevent such incidents in the future.

The case serves as a reminder of the importance of transparency and accountability in business dealings, particularly in the recruitment industry.