KOCHI: A salary of Rs 1 lakh, free food and accommodation, and appointments with leading hospitals within a week of reaching Dubai. These were the promises made by Feroz Khan, 42, of Nettoor, who allegedly duped around 500 people after offering them nursing jobs in Dubai, the police said. He was arrested on Sunday along with his aide, Sathar, 50, of Cherthala.
To win trust amid the pandemic, he told aspirants that the recruitment was being made to hospitals providing Covid treatment. Those who fell prey to the fraud realised it only when they got stranded in Dubai with neither job nor accommodation.
“They collected an advance of Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 3 lakh from each aspirant. Only nine complaints have been received, but around 500 people lost money to the fraud,” an officer said.Feroz invested the money thus received in vehicle sales and purchased luxury cars, the police said. Though arrested earlier, he operated the fraud while on bail. “He started another firm named Take Off at Kaloor and published advertisements of recruitment under the banner of the firm,” said the officer.
His aide in Dubai too will be arrested soon, the police said. The accused had no recruiting licence and was planning to arrange jobs through other agencies, which withdrew from deals with him as they never got paid. That led to the job aspirants getting stranded in Dubai. An investigation is under way to recover the vehicles Feroz had bought.