Thiruvananthapuram: The nursing scam in Kerala, in which a recruiting agency is accused of cheating hundreds of nurses with the alleged connivance of the protector of emigrants (PoE), has taken a new turn with the agency’s boss Uthup Varghese being arraigned as an accused in the case.
Earlier, the investigating agency — the Central Bureau of Investigation — had named the PoE, L Adolphus, as the first accused in the case. Now, it is alleged that Varghese’s Al Zarafa Travel and Manpower Consultants, which was authorised to recruit nurses for Kuwait by charging them Rs19,500 (Dh1,126) each as commission, duped the nurses by charging them Rs1.95 million, or 100 times the permitted commission. The PoE is thought to be in league with Varghese in the operation.
It is estimated that the nurses may have lost as much as Rs2 billion through commissions paid to the agency. Varghese is currently abroad and the CBI may issue a lookout notice for him.
Dozens of nurses from Kerala who had borrowed large sums to pay the commission to get jobs in Kuwait have been left high and dry. While some have been helped get jobs, others are still unsure of their future or how they will pay back the loans they took to finance the deal. The setback comes close on the heels of hundreds of Keralite nurses losing jobs in Yemen owing to internal clashes there.