Indian national Mohammad Sultan Abu Bakar Kadir was extradited from Singapore and sent back home to Mumbai on Sunday, to be prosecuted by Indian law enforcement authorities for allegedly running a job scam racket and cheating thousands of dollars from over 30 Indian workers with promises of jobs in Singapore.
Also known as “Captain Kadir,” the accused ran Worldwide Shipping Management – a Singapore-based recruitment firm offering jobs to migrant seafarers in local shipping firms. The company’s Mumbai operations were handled by his wife, Mureeza.
Together, Kadir and Mureeza would conduct ‘interviews’ for workers who apply to the company, hoping to secure a brighter future for themselves and their families. Once ‘shortlisted,’ these aspirants were expected to pay a sizeable amount of Rs 1 lakh or about S$2000 in the guise of a facilitation fee.
Once the money was transferred, the victims would make their own way to Singapore. Upon the workers’ arrival, Kadir would reportedly make excuses and reveal to them that they did not get jobs, forcing the frustrated victims to return home.
In 2006, 30 people filed a case against Kadir for cheating them. Officers from the Economic Offences Wing of the Mumbai police investigated the case and first arrested Mureeza before issuing a Red Corner Notice against Kadir in 2013.
The Singapore Police finally nabbed Kadir in May this year, at which point the Law Council of Singapore found merit in the case and passed the order to extradite Kadir.
After over a decade since the case was first filed, Kadir was brought back to Mumbai by the state’s Economic Offences Wing to face fraud charges.