Victims of foreign employment scam losing hope of getting justice

DoFE sluggish in addressing fraudulent foreign employment victim's plight

KATHMANDU, Feb 15: Young individuals, cheated during foreign employment and seeking justice from the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE), have little hope for a resolution. About 800 victims have filed complaints in various sections of the DoFE against Bikas Waiba and Sujan Tamang, who duped them with promises of foreign employment. Bikas Waiba and Sujan Tamang are the same individuals who utilized social media platforms to cheat many unsuspecting victims.

It has been nearly two months since the victims filed complaints against Waiba with the DoFE. Furthermore, it has been more than two weeks since his arrest by the DoFE. However, due to conflicting opinions among DoFE staff, the victimized youths have become frustrated.

On the day of Waiba's arrest, the Director-General of the DoFE, Danduraj Ghimire, reassured the victims not to panic and promised the return of the embezzled money within a few days following an investigation. "Don't worry, we have apprehended Waiba," one victim quoted him as saying. "After 10-15 days of inquiry, we will return the money of the victims at the rate of 40 individuals per day who were defrauded by Waiba. We will handle it."

However, the victims began losing hope for justice when DoFE staff began speaking in favor of the perpetrator. Waiba has been utilizing his two citizenships to commit fraud in the guise of foreign employment for about five years. A woman (victim) said Waiba took Rs 700,000 from her promising to send her to Croatia five years ago, but failed to do so. She continues to knock on the doors of the DoFE seeking justice.

According to the victims, Waiba amassed Rs 370 million from Eurons Consultancy, located in Samakhusi, Kathmandu, claiming to facilitate their migration abroad within the past six months alone. The victims allege that Waiba collected Rs 690 million from both new and previous victims for sending them abroad for over five years.

The victims express dissatisfaction with the DoFE's handling of their cases, as justice remains elusive. They visit the DoFE daily, setting aside their other responsibilities, in the hopes of getting justice.

During the investigation, when a DoFE employee inquired about the whereabouts of tens of millions of rupees, Waiba replied, "There's no clue of where the money went. It was all spent recklessly. I don't have a single rupee left. You can impose any punishment you want.”

Meanwhile, one of the victims said Waiba has urged all of them who filed the complaints to withdraw the complaints. “After being released from jail, I will repay all the money within six months. By detaining me like this, your money will not come,” Waiba said to the victim after his arrest.

Kabiraj Upreti, information officer of the DoFE said that the number of complaints against Wiba in the DoFE is increasing.

"We are astonished to see how one person has defrauded so many young individuals. Money worth millions of rupees appears to have been deposited into Waiba's bank account. As soon as the victim deposited the money, Waiba himself withdrew it from the bank. But, there's no indication of any business conducted elsewhere," Upreti stated.