Files of 64 people with high risk of migration 'disappear' from French Embassy in Delhi

Files related to Schengen Visa of 64 people having a high risk of migration have "disappeared" from the French Embassy here in a massive fraud allegedly committed by its two former employees booked by the CBI recently, officials said Monday.

Former embassy officials Shubham Shokeen and Aarti Mandal allegedly made Rs 32,00,000, charging Rs 50,000 per visa by clearing files of questionable candidates, they said.

It is alleged that Shokeen and Mandal handled 484 visa files between January 1 and May 6, of which 64 files pertained to individuals having a "high risk" of migration, like young farmers or unemployed persons from Punjab who had never travelled before and lacked the profile to hold a Schengen Visa. The agency suspects that Mandal and Shokeen allegedly destroyed the documents and files from the visa department to leave no traces of this illicit activity, they said.

The CBI on Friday last conducted searches in Delhi, Patiala, Gurdaspur and Jammu, during which documents and electronic evidence like laptops, mobile phones and suspicious passports etc., have been recovered.

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