The Kathmandu Valley Crime Investigation Office has launched an investigation against 69 operators of various educational counseling centers on Friday based on a complaint of fraud by promising to send students abroad for higher education. The police have arrested 5 from Bhaktapur, 5 from Lalitpur and 59 from Kathmandu. The police had raided 95 educational counseling centers.

SSP Santosh Khadka, head of the Kathmandu Valley Crime Investigation Office, said that they are looking at the devices of the educational counseling centers. 'Many have devices. Some may even go for fake degrees.' Government seals have also been recovered from some. We are verifying some of them,' Khadka said, 'Investigation into fraud-related crimes may be conducted. We are gathering necessary evidence to take everyone to a fraud-related case.' Khadka said that the recovered devices may reveal that they were sent abroad. 'If the victim had been present, it could have been done in a more orderly manner,' he said.

Office spokesperson Superintendent of Police Rameshwor Karki said that the students who were cheated have been requested to contact them to get more evidence and complaints against the arrested operators. ‘It has been found that they have been providing educational counseling services, preparatory classes and language teaching services without a license, without fulfilling the standards and procedures that educational counseling centers should follow, without renewing their registration,’ he said. ‘Further investigation is underway into whether or not students were sent for foreign employment under the pretext of being students.’

According to the Department of Foreign Employment, complaints have been coming in recently that educational counseling centers have been cheating more than manpower companies. ‘Educational counseling centers are completely prohibited from sending workers for foreign employment, conducting interviews and charging fees,’ said Meera Acharya, Director General of the department. ‘However, the involvement of the educational counseling centers in major frauds has been seen.’

The department has been registering these complaints as personal fraud. There are about 5,000 educational counseling centers active across the country. The Ministry of Education has issued a notice to renew registrations until last August, but only about 1,000 have renewed. The ministry has stated that if the renewal is not received or cannot be renewed within the specified deadline, the approval of the institution is automatically revoked.

Since the formation of the provincial government, educational counseling centers have also started registering with the Directorate of Education Development. The largest number of educational counseling centers are registered and operating in big cities including Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur. Due to the lack of effective monitoring by the Department of Education and Foreign Employment, the number of workers sent for foreign employment by educational counseling centers in the name of students is increasing.

Last December alone, it was revealed that Cozmo Educational Consultancy had defrauded nearly 300 people of crores of rupees by promising to take them to Bulgaria and Croatia. Sunil Tamang, 32, from Kavre, who was cheated by Cozmo, said that he was offered a salary of 850 euros to 1,200 euros for a cost of 7 to 1 million rupees to go to Croatia.

‘The government has stopped sending by educational consultants and it is not seen that action has been taken against those who send them.’ He said, ‘Cozmo’s employees did not leave room for disbelief that there is fraud, they counseled us in such a way that there was no way to get caught.’

Janak Rawal, chairman of the Progressive Foreign Employment Entrepreneurs Forum, said that after the government did not verify the European demand letter, educational consultants started sending workers to Europe with individual work permits.

‘In order to ensure safe, transparent and low-cost foreign employment for workers, non-businessmen (educational consultancy centers) have been encouraged by stopping businessmen (manpower companies) who had obtained licenses by depositing up to 60 million rupees,’ he said, ‘We are legal entities that can safely send workers by depositing 20 to 60 million rupees. However, by stopping these same businessmen from sending workers to emerging destinations, the tax received by the state has decreased. The cost paid by workers has become uncontrolled and expensive. Human trafficking has increased.’

Based on a letter sent by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on March 8, 2023, Nepali embassies in Europe have stopped certifying institutional demand letters. Businessmen claim that Nepali workers are going to Europe through unregistered agents with individual labor permits as the work of sending workers institutionally has been stopped. They say that Nepali workers who reach Europe in this way face problems including financial exploitation and fraud.

Nepali embassies in Europe, known as attractive and emerging employment destinations, are sending Nepali workers to Europe by charging exorbitant amounts of money from manpower, educational consultants and individuals after not verifying the demand letters. The number of Nepali workers going to Europe with individual work permits, even if they are not going institutionally, is increasing every year.

According to the Department of Foreign Employment, 35,000 Nepalis have gone to Europe through personal access (agents) in the last fiscal year alone. Of these, 21,000 went to Romania, 11,000 to Croatia, 1,900 to Portugal, 1,100 to Slovenia, and 1,000 to Austria. Businessmen claim that the number of Nepali workers going to Europe via third countries is much higher than the department's figures.

According to the department, due to the closure of institutional demand letter verification, Nepali workers have had to bear high costs to go to Europe and some have even fallen into the trap of human trafficking. Director General of the department Acharya said that action is being taken against sending them for foreign employment through illegal agents and middlemen.