Vadodara farmer accuses nephew of 2.7cr visa fraud

Vadodara: How much would one pay for a visa to Canada? A few lakhs perhaps, but a farmer from a village near the city ended up losing Rs 2.77 crore, which he had paid his nephew to get Canadian visas for him and his wife. A case was registered at Karjan police station on Friday night after attempts to recover the money failed. The accused also failed to put up his family house as collateral for these funds. The nephew, Dhruv Patel, is himself settled in Canada. Vinod Patel (38), a farmer from Kandari village in Karjan taluka near the city, lived in London from 2009 to 2014 on a student visa and returned. According to the FIR filed by Vinod, Dhruv is the son of his cousin who lives in Vadodara. Sometime after Dhruv left for Canada, Vinod discussed the possibility of getting a Canadian visa with Dhruv's mother, who told him that Dhruv used to work on emigration and could help Vinod. Vinod contacted Dhruv, who promised to arrange a visa for him and asked for Rs 15,000, which Vinod transferred. Dhruv then sent Vinod a ticket from Ahmedabad to Toronto for Vinod for Rs 1.98 lakh on July 7, 2023. But later, said that there was a problem with the work permit visas and he would cancel the ticket. Dhruv also said that it would be easier to get a visa if Vinod applied for a work permit visa for his wife as well. Dhruv came to Vadodara for his sister's wedding in March 2024 and told Vinod that he would send the visa on returning to Canada. He sent a work permit letter to Vinod on March 30, but later said that there was a problem with it and would now try for a business visa. For the business visa, Vinod was made to transfer money on different occasions, and the communication was done through someone else's email. Dhruv said that the person was known to him and Vinod could do as he said. On May 15 last year, Vinod was sent a ticket for a Delhi to Toronto journey via Abu Dhabi. Vinod was suspicious and called the airlines to inquire about the ticket. He was told that there was no booking in his name. When Vinod confronted Dhruv with the information, Dhruv said the ticket was only to show the embassy and not for travelling. Vinod asked Dhruv to stop the process for his visa and return his money. Dhruv's father passed away in June 2024, and he had to visit Vadodara. Vinod and others confronted him. Dhruv claimed he did not have the money, and they should approach whoever they sent the money to. Dhruv claimed that the money for the visa was in two Canadian banks and totalled Rs 27.7 lakh. This, he said, would be returned in 90 days.According to Vinod's complaint, he paid Rs 2.77 crore to Dhruv between Nov 2022 and May 2024. Of this, Dhruv returned Rs 7 lakh in 2023. Vinod drew up papers to keep the house of Dhruv's family as collateral for this money, but attempts to strike a compromise failed, after which he registered a case.
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