Hyderabad: A 46-year-old private employee from Mallapur was allegedly duped of about ₹7.8 lakh by a Jubilee Hills-based immigration consultancy on the promise of securing him employment in Fiji. The victim remained stranded in Fiji for four months due to the alleged fraud and, following his complaint, Jubilee Hills police registered a cheating case against the accused.The victim alleged that in February, he was contacted by T Deepthi and Rufus Karthik, representatives of an overseas education and immigration consultancy in Jubilee Hills, who promised to secure him a job in Fiji with a monthly salary of ₹85,000.The duo also assured him that accommodation would be provided in Fiji and that a work permit would be arranged within 20 days of his arrival.Trusting these assurances, the complainant paid ₹4.65 lakh through cash and online transfers between Feb 18 and 25, 2026. He was then sent to Fiji on a visitor visa, with the promise that it would later be converted into a work visa. After arriving in Nadi, Fiji, on Feb 27, 2026, he checked into a backpackers’ hostel and repeatedly followed up with the accused and their local agent.“They assured me that the visa conversion process had already been initiated and asked me to wait. After 20 days, they stopped responding to my calls and messages,” the complainant alleged.He survived on limited resources for nearly four months in Fiji and ended up spending ₹2.6 lakh on food and lodging. As his visitor visa was valid only until June 26, he returned to Hyderabad on June 24, with no other option, having received ₹60,000 in financial assistance from a friend.Based on his complaint, Jubilee Hills police booked a case against Deepthi and Karthik under Sections 316(2) (criminal breach of trust) and 318(4) (cheating), read with Section 3(5) (common intention), of the BNS on July 8.“We are looking into the evidence. The case is under investigation,” said Jubilee Hills detective inspector (DI) M Satyanarayana.
