It was Saturday, December 19. Rajesh Karki, 36, from Ramechhap, was waiting for a bus to Delhi, the capital of India. The bus was reserved for those going to Bulgaria to apply for a work visa.

‘I was in Surkhet. On the 21st, the news came that VFS Global in Delhi had given time to the Bulgarian Embassy to apply for a visa.’ There was a bus route from Kathmandu to Delhi via Sunauli,’ he told Kantipur, ‘I did not stay in Bhairahawa. I came to Nawalparasi and waited for the bus.’

He had paid 18,000 rupees to Kozmo Educational Consultancy in Koteshwor, Kathmandu, for the fare alone to go to Delhi. Before that, he had already paid 246,500 rupees to Cozmo, including 23,000 rupees for verifying the police report and 205,500 rupees for the work permit.

Cozmo had made everyone who came across the road wait for the bus accordingly. There were also people waiting in Kathmandu, Narayangadh and Bhairahawa. Till Saturday evening, Cozmo operator Lalbabu Ram, 55, from Sarlahi, manager Hima Nayak, 21, from Tikapur, and employee Astha Khadka, 22, from Ilam, were in regular contact with all the passengers. They had said, ‘We will leave in the morning.’

There was no news of the bus leaving till Sunday morning. All three of Lalbabu, Hima, and Astha’s mobile phones were off. Lalbabu removed the number from his WhatsApp. Lalbabu used to use a Greek number for WhatsApp.

‘I called from village to village carrying bags and left us stranded on the road. The morning dawned. But the bus did not come. "We felt like we had fallen off a cliff when the person who was taking us was out of contact," he said. "That's when we realized we had been cheated."

The series of frauds that started in Asad

This series of frauds started in Asad. In the first week of Asad, Cozmo advertised on social media that it would take 85 people to Bulgaria and 85 people to Croatia on labor visas at a low cost.

Those who saw such advertisements started contacting Cozmo through WhatsApp and visiting the office. Only Hima and Astha were found in the office.

"Our sir (Lalbabu) lives in Greece. While staying in Greece, he directly contacts companies in Bulgaria and Croatia in Europe. He makes work permits,' Karki said, quoting Cozmo manager Hima, 'We two look after all the work in Nepal.'

They offered those who went there a salary of 850 euros to 1,200 euros at a cost of 7 to 1 million rupees. To find out more, they would give Lalbabu's WhatsApp number in Greece.

'Our government has not stopped sending from educational consultants and has not taken action against those who send them. We arrived at this one after visiting several consultancies in Kathmandu and rejecting offers,' said Sunil Tamang, 32, of Kavre.

According to him, Cozmo employees did not leave room for doubt that fraud could occur. 'We were counseled in such a way that there was no way we could get caught,' he said.

Sunil also sought the lot number of the official demand letter from Hima and Astha. The official lot number is given only after the demand letter is verified by the Department of Foreign Employment.

There is a work permit document, but no verification

Four months after paying the money, the document was given saying that the work permit had arrived. They were given time to pay an additional two lakh rupees within two days.

‘The work permit was not in English. We looked it up using Google Translate. It mentioned work, salary, working hours, catering facilities, medical insurance, etc.,’ said Suraj Lama, 24, of Nuwakot. He had also paid two lakh 47 thousand rupees. Everyone deposited the amount in the bank account of Cozmo and the operator Lalbabu Ram.

In this way, victims say that Cozmo has collected Rs 75 million from about 300 people, an average of Rs 250,000 per person. 'Some have even collected Rs 700,000.' The number of victims being cheated by Cozmo is increasing. According to the employees, more than Rs 150 million have been cheated,' said Karki.

Employees under control, operator absconding

The Department of Foreign Employment has started receiving complaints from victims who were cheated by Cozmo since Thursday. Cozmo manager Hima Nayak and employee Astha Khadka are under police control. The main operator Lalababu Ram is absconding. The victims themselves arrested Hima and Astha and handed them over to the police on Monday.

'When we realized that we had been scammed, the office was closed when we went to understand the situation.' All our friends started monitoring the office,' said Jageshwor Rijal, 45, of Nawalparasi.

The victims took both of them on a motorcycle and took them to the department. They did not go there. A police team from Kalimati Police Circle took them. 'After the police left, we did not let them escape. We brought both of them to Cozmo. It was night. After we said that we would not let them escape until we returned the money, the police came from Baneshwor Police Circle. They surrendered to the police,' said Karki.

Hima and Astha have told the police that the owner Lalbabu had framed them. The victims have started filing complaints with the department in groups of 10-15 people.

Director General of the Department of Foreign Employment Meera Acharya said that the investigation process has been taken forward. ‘It is not possible to say with certainty how many people have been cheated by Cozmo.’ The detained employees have initially said that around 300 have been cheated. The main issue at the moment is not just the number, the main issue is that the problem has arisen because the foreign employment work was done by the consultancy,’ Director General Acharya told Ikantipur, ‘Only organizations registered with the department are allowed to do foreign employment work.’ Cases of being cheated by education consultancy are increasing day by day. An investigation officer has been appointed in this fraud case.’