Bengaluru: Man booked for cheating trainers promising jobs abroad

BENGALURU: The city police are on the look-out for a person who cheated over 60 soft skill trainers for allegedly taking money from them to train in soft skills abroad and vanished without trace. Venkatsubramanian T, one of the victims, who filed a case against the accused Sharad Soni with Banashankari police alleged that the culprit who claims to be a resident of Whitefield had claimed on social media like Facebook, Linkedin and Citehr in June stating that he required for principals abroad soft skill trainers who are experienced training in leadership qualities, communication skills, behavioural skills. He said several corporate entities, government and semi-government sector organisations required trainers and he represented all these companies. The complaint filed on November 3 by the victim also claimed that initially he like others, a freelance trainer, trusted and applied for the job but Soni wanted him to pay up Rs 10,000. This he claimed that towards accreditation with Zayed University in Dubai, which he claimed that was mandatory. All who applied for the work paid the money through an online payment gateway called instamojo,Soni's proposal to be a vendor was rejected as his proposal was rejected. The victim claimed that when he checked with the Visvesvaraya technical University where Soni and his company had been enlisted as a vendor for engineering colleges throughout Karnataka, the University stated that Soni's proposal as a vendor was rejected by it. The Zayed University was contacted online the UAE-based University replied that it has no relationship with this Soni's academy. "Our records do not show any agreement with it to recruit or for any other business. Furthermore, Zayed university does not award accreditation certificates nor has an Accreditation Center, as we are a higher education institute while the power of accreditation rests with the Ministry of Higher Education," the Zayed University reply said. The victim talking to TOI said that he found that Soni was earlier part of a company based in Middle East and worked as a consultant with that company. He went missing later and started the business in Bengaluru and went on luring experienced trainers promising them positions in various places across the globe. DCP (South) Lokesh Kumar said that he will take immediate action so as to prevent the culprit cheating more people. A case under section 74 of IT Act an section 420 (cheating) of IPC. Soni was not available for reaction on two of his mobile numbers when TOI tried to contact him. -TOI