Mumbai: Vanrai police have registered an FIR against five persons for cheating job‑seekers of Rs 2.25 lakh by promising placements abroad. The accused have been identified as Madhukar Jha, Michael Vega, Shraddha Sarang, Parvin Sheikh and Shradha Sarang.
According to an FIR, the complainant, Pawan Dhamankar, 28, an Andheri West BPO employee, found an Instagram post by Tortoise Communication Pvt Ltd linking to tortoiseglobalserve.com.
After submitting details on April 4, 2024, he was contacted on WhatsApp by “Shraddha Sarang” and invited to an office in Kandivali West, where Vega told Dhamankar to give an amount of Rs 4.5 lakh, payable in instalments.
At the firm’s new Goregaon East office in June 2024, Jha offered Dhamankar ship work bound for Finland and Portugal, drew up an MoU, and took Rs 75,000 by UPI. Another Rs 75,000 followed in November for visa processing, but the appointment was abruptly “cancelled.”
The scammers later told Dhamankar that their partner Jha, had died and Vega would take over the process of the work, their bank account was frozen, and a new date would be arranged.
After repeated delays and a final failed January 9, 2025, appointment, communication ceased as they didn’t pick up his phone calls. When Dhamankar visited the shut office, he met several other victims and filed the fraud complaint for a collective loss of Rs 2.25 lakh.
The FIR has been registered under Sections 318(4) (cheating) and 319(2) (cheating by personation) of the Indian Penal Code, along with relevant sections of the Information Technology Act.
