Chandigarh-based IT firm CEO held on plaint of US Embassy
After the Punjab Police filed an FIR on a complaint of the US Embassy against seven immigration agents and private firm owners for submitting fake education and work experience certificates on September 16, the Ludhiana police today made first arrest in the case.
The accused has been identified as Kamaljot Kansal, a resident of Phase 7, Mohali. Kansal owns an IT firm “Infowiz”, which operates from Sector 34-A, Chandigarh.
On July 15, Rahul Kumar applied for non-immigrant visa at the US Consulate in Chennai. As part of the visa application process, he earned a diploma in business administration from Dellsys, Chandigarh, and claimed to be employed with Infowiz from August 2021 till July 2023 as a Business Supervisor.
However, during an interview at the US Consulate in Chennai, Rahul admitted that he neither studied at Dellsys, nor he worked at Infowiz. He confessed that he received education and employment documents from a person named Himanshu at Red Leaf Immigration in exchange of Rs 2 lakh and he had to pay additional Rs 7 lakh if he was issued the US visa.
Division 5 SHO Vijay Kumar said Kamaljot was held on Thursday in Ludhiana. During questioning, the accused admitted that he had issued fake job certificate in connivance with Red Leaf Immigration, said the SHO.
“We are investigating if the accused has issued similar fake certificates to other applicants as well. Record of certificates issued by the accused would be scanned. Raids are underway to nab the remaining six accused,” added the SHO.
On September 16, a case was registered on the complaint of Eric C Molitors, Overseas Criminal Investigator, Regional Security Office, US Embassy, New Delhi. In a complaint submitted to DGP Gaurav Yadav, the US Embassy official stated that the suspected fraudulent activities were perpetrated by visa consultants, including Red Leaf Immigration and Overseas Partner Education Consultants.
The booked include Amandeep Singh of Zirakpur, Poonam Rani of Zirakpur, Ankur Kehar of Ludhiana, Akshay Sharma of Mohali, Kamaljit Kansal of Mohali, Rohit Bhalla of Ludhiana and Kirti Sood of Barnala.
