Team Herald
PANJIM: The Crime Branch has detained a woman for allegedly cheating 12 individuals of nearly Rs 27 lakh under the guise of providing jobs abroad.
The case came to light after complainant Sanjana Mahesh Bhicholkar, from Guirim, Bardez, accused Dr Meena Pooja Gop and Arvind Gop, both from Mapusa, of acting as recruitment agents and enticing her with a job offer in the sales department of a company in New Zealand. The accused allegedly induced Bhicholkar to transfer Rs 8.5 lakh in multiple transactions via Google Pay as processing fees. When the promised job was not provided, the victim filed a complaint of cheating, after discovering that Meena had prepared a forged visa document.
Further investigation revealed that the accused had similarly assured jobs in New Zealand to 12 other victims, collecting Rs 27.73 lakh using the same fraudulent methods.
The first accused, Dr Meena, a skin specialist, has been arrested, while efforts are ongoing to locate the second accused, Arvind Gop.