NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday said it has filed a charge sheet against eight accused in a case linked to the French Embassy Visa fraud syndicate. The accused include a Local Law Officer in the Visa Department of the Embassy of France, his father, brother and wife, two visa agents and two middlemen.
The charge sheet was filed before a special court here, as the CBI’s International Operations Division had registered a case in this connection after the agency received inputs of a visa fraud in the Embassy of France, New Delhi, it said.
A spokesperson of the CBI said, “In the investigation, it was established that during the period between January, 2021 and May, 2022, while working as Local Law Officer in Visa Department of the Embassy of France, New Delhi, the accused targeted applicants from Punjab seeking Schengen visas, through a network of visa agents and induced them to give huge amount of money for obtaining Schengen visas.”
Those who have been named in the charge sheet include Shubham Shokeen, the Local Law Officer, his brother Abhishek Shokeen, his father Samunder Singh, his wife Aarti Choudhary, visa agents Balwinder Singh Bartia and Pritpal Singh. The two middlemen are Jashandeep Singh Sidhu and Bhawan Shokeen, who are named in the charge sheet.
“In the charge sheet the CBI has accused that a network of visa agents, mostly based in Punjab, received money ranging from Rs 13 Lakh to Rs 45 Lakh from each visa applicant and in lieu of these large sums of money, visa applications were processed by the accused, and after issuance of Schengen visas, the accused destroyed the visa documents and files,” the spokesperson said.
He said, “During the investigation, huge amounts of cash and multiple documents relating to properties worth crores, acquired in India and abroad, were found at various locations in Punjab and Delhi. Two accused visa agents were the key co-conspirators, who funnelled the money through various bank accounts, which ultimately reached the accused Local Law Officer and his family members.”
In order to trace the proceeds of crime abroad, the International Operations Division of CBI, in coordination with the International Police Cooperation Unit of CBI, were also successful in getting India’s first ‘Silver Notice’ published in this case, the spokesperson said.
‘Silver Notice’ is published through the INTERPOL channel to locate and freeze assets created overseas by using the proceeds of crime, officials said.
The CBI successfully coordinated with multiple agencies, including international agencies, to secure evidence in the case, they said.