Delhi Police bust gang that ran fake recruitment agency, four arrested

Two Russian nationals, a student and a restaurant manager managed to run a fake international recruitment agency in central Delhi’s Patel Nagar for almost a year. The accused promised work permit VISAs to job seekers who wanted to work in Poland, Germany, Luxembourg and other European countries. The office seemed legitimate and the presence of two “foreign” nationals led victims to believe their money was going to fetch them a VISA, police said.
The gang specialised in cheating gullible people and duped almost 65 people so far. Each victim was duped of ₹60,000 to ₹75,000. On Sunday, the Delhi Police said they arrested all four members of the gang.
To make their ‘scam’ look real, the accused had an office, an Instagram page and a WhatsApp channel for their targets.
The matter came to light last month when a Nagpur-based student alleged he was in touch with a Delhi-based company to get a work VISA for Poland but was cheated of ₹75,000.
The company, WGA Visa India Pvt. Ltd had been operating from an office in Patel Nagar near the metro station since April 2023. Deputy commissioner of police (crime) Rakesh Paweriya’s team led by ACP Pawan Kumar and Inspector Virendra Singh conducted several raids.
“We found that the complainant as well as dozens of other victims were cheated of huge amounts on the pretext of providing work permit VISAs. It also came to our notice that the fraudsters contacted the complainant through Instagram and then shared a link to their fake website,” DCP Paweriya said.
On March 18, his team found the office and arrested 33-year-old Artem Tolkachev from there. Police said Tolkachev had tried to escape.
“He was asked to provide a copy of a valid licence/permit issued by the Ministry of External Affairs which is required for running emigration services but he failed to do so. On searching the premises, various incriminating documents and devices were recovered. Meanwhile, Tolkachev tried to flee but he was overpowered by the police. He disclosed the name of his partner who was arrested from his house in DLF Capital Greens, Moti Nagar,” Paweriya added.
The accused was identified as Igor Sirenko. Based on their interrogation, their Indian employees Sagar Sharma and Rohit Kumar were also arrested from Delhi.
During interrogation, the accused revealed that they had started an unauthorized overseas work VISA agency. Investigators said the accused wanted to evade suspicion and started the business in the name of an auto-rickshaw driver. He was also named as “director” of the company and offered a 15% commission. Police said Sirenko had met the auto-driver in Central Delhi while travelling and hired him.
Investigators revealed the men were working under a person named Natsya who is based in Russia and ran the daily affairs of the company from Russia through CCTVs installed at the office.
“Everything was done under the supervision of Natsya. The motive was to cheat young innocent job seekers in India on the pretext of providing fake work permits at non-existing companies in Poland, Germany, Lithuania, Netherlands, Luxembourg and other European countries because Indians are the ‘most passionate’ about going abroad at any cost,” said Paweriya.
The gang created an Instagram page WgaPoland and ran ads online. They also hired employees through an application for ‘tele-calling’ the victims. According to the police, a written script was provided to the callers.
Sharma has a diploma in hotel management and worked at a hotel in Rajender Place where he met Sirenko. He was hired as a manager at the office and paid around ₹50,000 per month. Police said he would meet the victims at the office.
Kumar is a graduate of Dayal Singh College and is pursuing his MBA. He was hired as a receptionist by the accused and has been working at the office since July 2023.
Investigators said Sirenko came to India in October 2022 and has a business VISA. He and Tolkachev started the business when Tolkachev came to India in April 2023. “He visited different places in India, Nepal and UAE. Later, Tolkachev converted his tourist Visa into a Business Visa,” added the officer.
Police said they are looking for other associates who are on the run.