Recruitment agency 'cheats' BTech grad of Rs 1.30L after promising MNC job

A 24-year-old BTech graduate from Hyderabad, who was ‘cheated’ of Rs 1.30 lakh by a consultancy promising him a software developer job at a reputed MNC here, has approached the Bengaluru police commissioner.

Shaik Mohammed Ameer Malik, in the complaint, said that Bren Recruitments had not only cheated him but also several other students in the same manner. Ameer, a BTech graduate from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University in Hyderabad came to know about Bren Recruitments through internet. He contacted them to get a job at an MNC in Bengaluru. The agency assured him of software developer’s post at a reputed MNC as he had a good academic qualification. 

Ameer was asked to come to their office at Hulimavu on Bannerghatta Road for a formal meeting. He was asked to pay Rs 1.30 lakh for a 45-day training after which he would be given certificates, before he reports to work at the MNC. 

An impressed Ameer returned to Hyderabad and transferred Rs 1.30 lakh to the bank account of Payel Bannerjee, CMD of Bren Recruitments on March 28, 2016. After the money was paid there was no response from the consultancy. When he followed up regularly, he was asked to come to Bengaluru to undergo training as a system engineer. “A system engineer is basically a tech support personnel who would get a salary of Rs 10,000 to Rs 12,000 per month. But I was promised a system developer’s job with a CTC of Rs 3.2 lakh per annum," Ameer told to DH. 

Ameer asked the consultancy founders Payel and Ranjith to return his money. To reassure him, they promised to issue him certificates although he had not undergone any training. Two certificates stating he was JAVA and J2EE certified professional were offered to him and efforts were made to persuade him to take up the tech support job, he said.

“After a month, I got a mail stating that joining dates will be intimated to me, but they kept postponing it for business reasons and claimed that the delay is due to background verification process. One day, they suddenly asked me to board a flight to Haryana for an interview and when I refused, they asked me come to Bengaluru. When I came here, the joining dates were again changed,” Ameer said.

When Ameer started demanding refund of money, Payel threatened him that she will lodge a harassment complaint against him. Following this, Ameer filed a complaint with the police commissioner's office on January 9. He later approached the Hulimavu police who asked him to go to the jurisdictional police station in Hyderabad and lodge a complaint as the money transaction was done from there.
 When contacted, Ranjith from Bren Recruitments said, “We have tried calling Ameer several times to Bengaluru for attending interviews but he didn’t turn up. He wanted the money returned as his father was ill.”