COIMBATORE: Nearly 20 years after defrauding over 600 job seekers of Rs 6 crore, members of a gang involved in a major job racket scam in Coimbatore were sentenced to 14 years in prison.
While four were sentenced to 14 years imprisonment, one suspect was sentenced to four years. The court also ordered them to pay Rs 1.48 crore in compensation to the victims.
The convicts are the firm’s MD Cherian (71), a Kerala native who was settled in Mumbai, Francis Arun alias Kiran Chandrasekaran (47) and his younger sister Asha Charlotte alias Priya Dharmaraj (44) of Thrissur, Santhosh William (45) of Palakkad and Preetha Kumari (60), a manager of the firm from Coimbatore.
Three other accused, Ramesh Babu alias John Thomas, Sain, and Santhosh William’s father Benjamin William Xavier, died during the trial. According to the police, the gang started a firm named Yanbo Associates in Gandhipuram in 2005.
They allegedly presented forged foreign employment permits and collected fees ranging from Rs 80,000 to Rs 3 lakh per person. It lured mostly young professionals and labourers by promising high-paying jobs in the United Kingdom and Cyprus.
The prosecution said the firm collected up to Rs 3 lakh each from 600 unsuspecting applicants. After collecting the money, the firm shut its operations on August 30, 2005.
The case, initially handled by the Kattoor police in Coimbatore city, was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation in 2011 based on Madras High Court’s order. CBI booked a case and eight suspects were arrested at Mumbai and CBI filed a chargesheet in 2012.
The police also attached 448 grams of gold (30 items), Rs 1.84 lakh and 10 properties in Kerala valued at around Rs 5 crore, purchased by the accused between June and August of 2005. 130 witnesses were examined, including 120 victims directly involved. CBI Special Public Prosecutor Surendra Mohan represented the prosecution.
Judge Sivakumar K delivered the verdict on Thursday and awarded 14 years of imprisonment and a fine of Rs 12 lakh each on Cherian and Santhosh William. Francis Arun and Asha Charlotte were each sentenced to 14 years in jail and fined Rs 15 lakh. Preetha Kumari was sentenced to four years of imprisonment and fined Rs 2 lakh.