Three individuals have been charged with defrauding a physician affiliated with a local hospital of Rs 15 lakh under the pretext of assisting him in obtaining admission to a postgraduate radiology program at a Spanish university.
The 28-year-old doctor, who got his MBBS in Georgia, claimed in his May 18 complaint filed with Dongri police that on March 23, 2023, he saw an advertisement on a social media platform regarding a postgraduate radiology study in Spain.
The complainant spoke with a man who introduced himself as Vivek Kumar when they called one of the numbers provided in the advertisement. Subsequently, Kumar held an online meeting with the complainant, informing him that the course would take five years, cost Rs 15 lakh, and require him to learn Spanish for the first three months. In addition, he informed the complainant that in order to be admitted to any medical college in Spain without taking an entrance exam, he would need to complete a six-month internship at a hospital in Barcelona. Kumar forced him to talk to some "MBBS students from Spain" in order to win his trust. The doctor, convinced paid Rs 15 lakh online for the training, and ten days later, Kumar sent him a "letter" from Barcelona city council.
Rahul sent him a note on WhatsApp in May 2023 requesting residence arrangement documents and a Spanish language course. Upon arriving in Spain, the complaint discovered that he did not have a hotel booking. Rahul was unresponsive when he attempted to reach him. After that, the complainant moved in with a friend and enrolled in the Spanish language course. When he got back to India two months later, he asked Rahul when he could start the internship program. The complaint takes another flight to Spain in Jan again. Rahul requested him take a different language course this time.
The complainant saw a doctor during this time and showed him the "documents" of the education department received from the Barcelona City Council. It's not real, the doctor informed him. In an attempt to confirm their authenticity, the complainant posted the documents to the website of Barcelona City Council on February 5.
Rahul wrote him a note on WhatsApp on March 14th, discussing an internship at a hospital close to Madrid. When the complainant brought the document to the hospital, he found out it was a fake. The Barcelona City Council informed the complaint via email on April 10 that his PG course letter was also fake. When he got back to India, he contacted the police.
(Input from various sources)
(Rehash/Priyanka Pandey/SB)
