Mumbai: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday filed a chargesheet in the special NIA Court against five accused, including two foreign nationals, in a major human trafficking and cyber fraud case with international linkages. Among the accused, Jerry Jacob and Godfrey Alvares are under arrest, while Sunny Gonsalves and foreign nationals Niu Niu and Elvis Du remain absconding.
According to the NIA investigations, the accused were targeting Indian youth who were proficient in computers and the English language, and coercing them into working in fraudulent call centres on tourist visas for pecuniary gains. The victims were being recruited, transported and transferred from India to the Golden Triangle SEZ in Lao PDR via Thailand. Upon arrival, the victims were trained in the use of Facebook and Telegram, basics of cryptocurrency and the handling of Apps created by the scam company.
The powerful syndicates also used victim control tactics in case any of the trafficked youth refused to continue with the online fraud work. These tactics included isolation and restriction of movement, confiscation of personal travel documents and physical abuse, arbitrary fines, threat to kill, threat to rape in case of women, threat to arraign in the false case of drugs in local police station, etc.
The racket was being operated with complete audacity, with the accused even deleting the data of the victims’ mobile phones to destroy evidence. In some cases, the victims were held in scam compounds, confined without food for 3-7 days, and tortured if they refused to work. They were only released after extraction of extortion payments, ranging from Rs 30,000 to Rs 1,80,000, or intervention by the Embassy of India in Lao PDR on complaints made by the victims.
Sources revealed that Jacob and Alvares were arrested after arriving in India for a holiday when victims alerted law enforcement agencies. The duo was orchestrating a sophisticated operation, luring and trafficking dozens of Indian citizens to Laos under false promises. Investigations revealed that the suspects employed deceptive tactics, promising lucrative job opportunities in Thailand to unsuspecting victims.
