Police Bust Job Scam in Old Goa Involving Nigerian Man
Police in Old Goa have put an end to a job racket used to deceive unsuspecting Goans with the arrest of Laura Fernandes, a woman who masterminded the scheme with her Nigerian husband. According to Old Goa PI, Satish Padwalkar, the couple posted ads in local newspapers, offering lucrative overseas jobs as bait. They collected huge sums of money and passports from gullible individuals with photographs suggesting they were being processed for foreign travel, only to later stonewall and avoid victims when their cash and passports were taken.
Padwalkar said the suspected fraud came to the notice of the authorities following a complaint by a man who paid Rs 40,000 for a job but never got the promised employment. The man’s calls and messages to the fake recruiters were ignored, prompting him to report the matter to the police. In response, Old Goa police reached Panaji, laid a trap, and arrived at the place where Fernandes was scheduled to collect money from yet another victim. She was, however, quick to notice the presence of the police and tried to escape, only to be caught up and arrested. Her Nigerian husband, however, managed to flee.
Padwalkar revealed that the police are looking into the incident as a possible larger scam involving deceptive employment practices orchestrated by Nigerian nationals. “We are suspecting that many Goans have been duped by the accused and it could be a larger game of Nigerian fake job racket,” he said. “The matter is being investigated. We have arrested Fernandes, and she has been remanded in four-day police custody.”
