'Migration agents duping students'

Australian federal police raided the office of a Sydney-based Indian migration agent after the ‘Four Corners’ programme of ABC News claimed that he was involved in a “scam of exploiting foreign students”.

An Indian journalist working undercover with ABC to expose the alleged migration and education scams was threatened and punched by an unidentified man over the weekend, an incident which has sparked an outrage in India. “Search warrants were executed at the offices of migration agent Sanjay Deshwal, in a joint operation conducted by the Australian Federal Police, Department of Immigration and Citizenship and the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations,” the ABC reported. The programme alleged that in student circles in Sydney, Deshwal was known as the “go-to man” for “fake” documents.

In a sting operation, the undercover reporter went to Deshwal to test these claims and asked him if he could arrange for a work experience certificate from a restaurant.

The reporter claimed that she was guaranteed a fake certificate for 3,000 to 4,000 dollars. The ABC also said it has evidence that several agents were offering to help students cheat in English language proficiency tests and provide fake experience certificates. The programme claimed that many students were ripped off to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars by colleges, or migration or education agents.