Kochi: The police have arrested a 43-year-old woman for swindling about Rs 2.18 crore from 68 people on the pretext of providing nursing jobs in England. The court has remanded Margaret Mary of Kasaragod.
The police said that the complainants got acquainted to the accused through a WhatsApp group for prayer meetings at Kanhangad. Jimmy and Biju, who led the prayer meetings, had also played a role in the fraud.
Some of the victims had given Rs 1.5 lakh and even Rs 7 lakh to the fraudsters. Five Tamil Nadu natives too fell prey to the scam.
Margaret Mary introduced herself as Manju to the complainants. She had reportedly asked the job aspirants to come near to the visa attestation centre at Ravipuram in Ernakulam the other day and give Rs 55,000. Forty people turned up with the money. Margaret took the money and handed it over to an autorickshaw driver.
The job aspirant, who grew suspicious, then took her to the police station and filed a complaint.
In the ensuing probe, it was found that none had filed any application for visa. The fraud was revealed as police questioned Margaret.
In her statement to the police, Margaret said that she had committed the fraud as per the instructions of Kottayam natives Joshy Thomas and Merin Thomas. She said she had met the duo in the Gulf and that she had merely acted as an intermediary. Joshy Thomas is the alleged mastermind of the fraud.
The aspirants had also transferred money to 25 accounts, including to that of Jimmy's wife Sanitha Jose. It was found that several of these accounts belonged to Margaret's relatives and that the money was had been transferred to Joshy Thomas.
