By Hari Dahal (Kantipur)
KATHMANDU, NEPAL - Nepal Metropolitan Police Crime Division (MPCD) has busted two individuals notorious for their involvement in producing forged American visas and duping people. Police said the two had duped a significant number of people with forged American visas, fake job offers and illegal documents. They were running a big racket under the name of Channel Educational Foundation in the capital. Acting on an initial tip-off by the American embassy, a team from MPCD arrested Shankar Dahal, 34, a permanent resident of Dharan, Sunsari and his Philipino wife Kristina Patrinio, 22, on the charge of forgery and embezzlement.
Police investigations showed that the two had returned from Dubai a year ago and started running the racket.Police said they were arrested after the US embassy expressed particular concern and shared information about the big racket taking place in the capital. Selling people American dreams with pledges of attractive jobs in the US the two had conned under-graduate students and other semi-skilled people with counterfeits of American visas and other essential documents. Superintendent of Police Devendra Subedi said they targeted and victimized college-level students and people who were desperate to go abroad. Our preliminary investigation showed that they had already victimized at least seven persons and they were in contact with another 40,” SP subedi said, adding that a detail investigation report going beyond the racket is still awaited as some of those involved are on the run.Police said Bhola Dahal, who had been working as a public relations officer at the illegal educational center, Bikash Thapa and Bhola Raut are also on the run.
Earlier on April 15, Dahal was arrested by police on the charge of kidnapping and freed on bail. They used to tell their victims that the visas were issued by the American embassy in Nepal. “Their victims were so confident they would land in the US with the forged documents that they hesitated to contact police,” SP Subedi said. Channel Education Foundation operated out of Lazimpat, put out advertisements in newspapers and used to take over Rs 0.7 million per person for documentation.After learning about the police investigation, they closed down and then re-opened as another office, named Horizon, at Tangal in Bhatbhateni, police said. They are in police custody at Hanumandhoka.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
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2 comments:
hi
frens
in nepal;can we make fake bank statements...? .. someone say it should not be...
they say that police lai bolauchha... what sorts of questions they ask to reveal it.
please help me.... as soon as possiblee
i dont have sufficient money to show.......
Dear Editor,
I am a young Nepali man and I live in Kathmandu. I am writing to inform you about the unfairness and the facts behind discrimination of employment and visa irregularities in the British Embassy in Kathmandu by embassy staff. There have been many vacancy notices for jobs in the Consular Section during the last 4 years.
Even though, none of the vacancy notices which were published nearly every six months ever mentioned any preferences of gender, each and every time only young Nepali girls have been selected for the job in the Consular Section.
Were there no male candidates at all who applied for the jobs? If there were any, why is it that not a single male has been successful in applying for so many vacancies during the past 4 years? The Consular Department is now full of more than half a dozen young Nepali girls, and no male Nepali at all.
Is there any interest or motive of the Consul, Mr John Chick, behind employing and looking after the welfare of beautiful young girls only? In this context, he and the British Embassy cannot be considered an "equal opportunity employer" as quoted in every vacancy ad. There is yet another recent vacancy notice published in "The Kathmandu Post" of March 19 and 20, 2004 and other national dailies for a clerk in the Consular Section. We again wait for the result of the vacancy notice.
We came to know that the embassy selects family members of the staff for jobs. It will be interesting to see Consul's history if he has ever employed any male in his department. One girl, who is very close to Mr Chick was successful in charming him to secure a job in his office for her "Samantha Fox" look-alike aunt and eventually managed to satisfy Mr. Chick to get an employment for her husband in the Administrative Department of the embassy, within a short period of her arrival. Both were selected without publishing vacancy notices and without interviews. We don't believe the British government favours nepotism but the fact shows otherwise.
The Consul's wife is a young oriental girl who acts and dress up like Naomi Campbell. She organises fashion shows which culminate with orgies in local hotels. Everyone knows that she is the wife of the Visa Consul and she uses her influence to keep young Nepali models and visa brokers around her.
There are many visa brokers she has links with but one in particular is a female model called Kalpana. She takes Rupees 600,000 and she guarantees visas because she has good connections with the Consul's wife who takes 500,000 of this money, according to her. (1 Pound Sterling is approximately Rupees 130). Lots of people have obtained visas easily with fake documents and no hassles through her services. Kalpana also helps to sell garments and dresses designed and imported from Thailand and Vietnam by the Consul's wife.
Another active visa broker is a Nepali man called Hari K.C. who mostly lives in the UK. He is a very close friend of the Consul's wife and he guarantees visas for Rupees 400,000. Whenever he returns to the UK he takes 7 or 8 people with him. He introduces visa applicants to the Consul's wife in parties and at hotels.
Many local people have seen the Consul, Mr Chick together with young Nepali girls, who could be a staff member or visa applicant, in hotels in Kathmandu, Nagarkot, Pokhara, Chitwan and in various hide-outs and entertainment places in and around the capital Kathmandu. We have checked with The Club Himalaya (a luxurious 5 star hotel on a remote hilltop) and found that the Consul has spent numerous nights at the hotel with Nepali girls. Hotel bookings are always done by the Nepalese girls who accompany the consular. He is a macho-man and he might be a stallion and we understand his natural desire and obsession for slim oriental girls. It's not our business and concern who he goes with and what he does or to count how many times he has married and remarried. That's entirely his private affair but this selfish behaviour displayed would surely damage the reputation of the diplomatic community of Nepal as a whole.
Another British single member of the embassy, Mr David Ward, has also been taking advantage of his post to lure female staff of the Embassy and visa applicants. He has been seen visiting their houses occasionally at unsocial hours. This can be confirmed with the local people living at "Nursery Lane" neighbouring the Embassy premises where some of the female staff live. David has been found asking young Nepali girls - mostly visa applicants - on night-outs or to pay him in exchange for recommending a visa to the Immigration Section. He has been impressing the people by saying that he is the "first secretary" of the embassy. David asks Nepali male visa applicants to pay him Rupees 700,000 to guarantee a visa. He has been using his domestic servants who work in his house for these purposes. One of his housemaid has and is collecting the money and mediating with "clients" for David.
There are many instances where young innocent female visa applicants have been offered dates and night outs by the visa staff. One such was Ms. Puja Satyal, a student visa applicant who fell prey to the person who interviewed her. Even though she faced unnecessary delays and pressures, she was eventually given a visa. Another one is Mrs. Muna Limichhane who was black mailed by embassy staff.
Facts show that there is a preference of issuing visas to these types of young Nepali girls and the record proves so. A national daily "The Himalayan Times" of 28 April 2004, page 3 is an evidence of such acts. There is an advertisement of Dimensional Career Consult, Kathmandu (email: dcc1@wlink.com.np) captioned "The successful counting is on - study in London, UK at Millennium City Academy" with photographs of 4 young Nepali girls namely Ms. Neelam Thapa, Ms. Janie Shrestha, Ms. Lasata Shakya and Ms. Preja Khanal. Why are only young girls are successful in getting visas?
Another advertisement in a recent issue of the same newspaper on 13 May 2004 includes success stories with all-female pictures of successful girls and again tells the reader that "the next could be you". Among so many student visa applicants from this agent, why could not a single male Nepali student pass the visa process at the British Embassy in Kathmandu?
The situation has reached such a low point that the hundreds of UK college and school agents scattered all over Kathmandu discourage or rather refuse to accept or process male Nepali students through them. This situation, so hard to believe has been created by the Consular Section and is not fair to the Nepali males.
This is the overall background scenario of the work of the British Embassy Consular Section in Nepal. It would be worthwhile to have a look at the Consul's history and similar past activities to verify facts, which we believe would be in parallel.
Everybody know that the Consul has good connections with Mr Christopher Van Jensen, a British gentleman living in Nepal. Mr Jensen is the teacher and proprietor of the St. James Educational Consultancy in Kathmandu. He works on behalf of Mr Chick to collect money from Nepali visa applicants to the UK. He is the local agent of London School of Management (LSM). Until a year ago the embassy used to refuse taking applications from LSM but now Mr Jensen is sending lots of students to the same school with almost everybody getting a visa.
Mr Jensen claims to have "special links" with the British consul and guarantees visas in exchange for rupees 500,000. This is why Mr. Jensen managed to establish a lavish college called St. James College in Kathmandu recently on his own after starting from a one room educational consultancy only a year ago. His connection and activities can be checked with Mr. D.P.Bhandari, Principal of King's College, Battisputali, Kathmandu who at one time used to be an employer of Mr. Jensen. There are many small educational consultancies who have personal connections with Mr. Chick and/or his wife and are making a fortune.
Mr. Bishnu Pandey who is an agent in Kathmandu of Uxbridge College also operates for Mr. Chick for a very heavy fee. He has been successful in geting visas for a lot of students to UK, he is known to be a very reliable person in this matter.
Another one such agent is Hariyali (e-mail:hariyali@id.wlink.com.np). Officials at seminar of Stratford College London which was held last week, told the participants that they have made a special deal with the Consul and the visa success rate will be very high for people going to this college.
We are compelled to write to you to inform about these irresponsible activities in order to save the face of British society in Nepal and the misuse of their diplomatic status and to to bring about a stop in the abuse of the staff and Nepali people.
It would also be noteworthy to take a look at another member of the British Embassy who is mediating and facilitating Australian and UK visas for Nepali people for large sums of money. His name is Michael Chamberlin, a husband of a senior British member of staff in the embassy. He works at the (in)famous visa brokerage agency, The Australian Visa Consultancy in Kathmandu (www.australianvisa.homestead.com). He tells people that he has very good contacts with both Australian and British councillors and that they are his very close friends. He also tells people that he can also help people to get a US visa because the Consul is his good friend. It is needless to say that these types of behaviour are financially beneficial to the individuals concerned but very damaging to the diplomatic society of Nepal.
There are also some teachers of the British School who have personal links with Mr and Mrs Chick and who are collecting large amounts of money on their behalf. Every one has noticed that the majority of people whose applications are reconsidered and are given a visa after their visa has first been refused are female. Why is the Consul always after females? We also have proof that almost all who were issued visas after initial refusals had a special connection with Mr. or Mrs. Chick or his all-girls staff team.
There are many examples of the Consul's unfair dealings. The embassy does not allow visas to more than one child of parents stating that they would not be able to support financially more than one child in the UK yet both daughters of Mr. Rajendra Krishna Joshi, a senior manager of Qatar Air easily got student visas. This is because Mr. Joshi provides special discounts and upgrading of class to the consular family when they buy tickets from Qatar air. The Consul's wife regularly travel to Vietnam and also has a son who studies in UK. The Consul's wife and son thus travel to Vietnam and the UK frequently with discounted tickets provided by Mr. Joshi.
Mr. Joshi also arranges lot of extra weight without charge to them. That is why the Consul gives visas to him and his family very easily but he gives a lot of harassments and trouble to other Nepalese people who come to apply for visas. Mr Joshi says that he gets VIP treatment when he goes to the Visa Section because his name is called by the staff and he goes straight to see the Consul. Mr. Joshi said that both daughters did not have to go to the embassy to apply for student visas but they get visas the next day. He has no need to take his family for interviews but all other people including very old people must line up and come in person to apply.
The Consul seems to have more interest in self-advancement and has special connections with local businessmen and visa brokers to make financial gain, maybe because this is a "once in a life time life" opportunity.
Mr. Chick's discriminative nature, past and present, need to be investigated. This is neither a criticism against someone at a personal level nor a complaint against the refusal of visas, we totally respect the immigration rules of the UK and have nothing against it. We are just trying to expose the corrupt activities within the Embassy.
The embassy website clearly says "Our aim is to provide a fast and fair service to all" but this is only a saying. The notice outside the office says "For submitting a visa application: Mon - Thu 0830 - 1130hrs (except for visas to Commonwealth countries for which the hours are Friday 0830 - 1030hrs only)".
This is false information, this does not happen in practice, one cannot go and apply on the same day. It takes at least a week just to submit an application and normally another week or two to get a decision. There is always a queue of at least one week to submit a visa application and the applications are taken on certain days only. The visa office hardly opens on time at 8.30 am. When the office is open and people are let into the office the customers are made to wait 10-15 minutes before anything happens.
We believe that the reason behind the build-up of the queue is the inefficient official process which is artificial. Fast track is limited to the selected few ones only who are either close to the embassy or relatives of the embassy staff.
As the embassy only takes UK visa applications from Monday to Thursday, we suggest that it would be convenient for the visa applicants and the embassy to take UK visa applications also on Fridays rather than make people wait seven days just to submit the visa applications. Because people have to spend a lot of money to stay in Kathmandu for seven days just waiting to submit the application. Hotel and food is very expensive in Kathmandu. A lot of people complain but no staff are prepared to listen.
The reporting of bad behaviour, rough language, insulting remarks, ill advice and the passing of incorrect information by visa staff have gone unnoticed and this is one of the reasons we are writing to you directly.
One of my friends who was refused a student visa was not handed the appeal form and was discouraged to appeal. The visa department staff said that the appeal process takes more than a year - maybe an indefinite period (up to 3 or 4 years) and that we would not be able to apply until we get the decision of the appeal. We subsequently found out that this information was wrong 7 months after we appealed. They have been telling this to discourage everybody who wishes to appeal.
The Consular Section recently harassed a team of 4 or 5 top Nepalese artists and UK sponsors by initially promising visas if they produce UK work permits. But when they applied with work permits they were bluntly refused. Why is the embassy advising the applicants to apply with work permits when they do not have any intention to issue visas even after producing work permits?
We doubt that the level and quality of service have been concealed to the concerned higher authorities and recommend an on-site inspection and customer survey to reveal the facts. People are feeling that the embassy is giving unnecessary problems and harassment especially of male students, wives of work permit holders, wives of British Gurkha soldiers, sometimes ending up in blackmail and extortion by the embassy staff.
Even British citizens are now being cheated and have to pay far more than expected when repatriating bodies of their friends and families from Nepal.
We have come to know from a reliable source that a foreign businessman who lives in Kathmandu has been give a contract to handle repatriation of bodies and that the deal has been set for more than US $7,000 per case. Whereas the same thing could be and was done by the embassy staff more efficiently, reliably and faster at a cost of less than US $4,000, like most of the embassies do. This is because for his selfish reasons Mr Chick employed a Nepalese girl to handle consular cases including repatriation of the dead. Nepalese females are forbidden to touch a dead body as it is against the Nepalese tradition and religion. You may check the freight charges with local cargo agents ie (Austrain Airlines - email:laudair@mail.com.np, Gulf Air - email:ptt@mos.com.np, Qatar Airways - email:zenith@ktmpc.mos.com.np, Everest De-Cargo -email:ets@mos.com.np).
Why should British citizens pay excessively more at the time when they are losing someone dear to them.
We have recently heard that there is yet another British person missing in Nepal. Last year there was a missing person case of a British person called Mr. Alex Ratnasothi. Alex has not been found yet and we believe the latest missing person is also not likely to be found because extensive searches are not made in and around the area where the person was last seen or missing from.
As far as we are concerned, all previous searches were concentrated in Kathmandu city, we noticed some 4' x 5' black & white poor photocopies of papers posted in the 1 sq KM area of "Thamel" (the main tourist area) only close by where the embassy is situated. Is this all that an embassy could do in an effort to trace a missing citizen?
Comparatively, when something happens to a citizen of other embassies, swift action is taken, not a single stone is left unturned, to resolve a case. We feel that British tax payers are being cheated.
There is a big financial backing behind Mr. Chick who is one of the famous art, carpet and antique collector-buyers in Kathmandu. This is only the tip of the iceberg and a true in-depth report based on facts and figures.
Articles and reports on Mr John Chick, Mr David Ward and Mr Adrean Lewis' involvement in visa "monkey-business" are regular features in Nepali newspapers and magazines. We have noticed publication of these types of articles more and more recently.
Issues of how and why the business of UK visas is flourishing in Kathmandu under the nose of the UK Consul, Mr Chick, by the embassy staff close to him is a matter of a different subject. This is one of the reasons why so many visa unqualified Nepalese people manage to enter the UK, legally and illegally and then claim political asylum there. I am sorry but I have to let you know the truth.
Sincerely yours,
R Sapkota
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