Australian Police have arrested Bharat KC, a Nepali national who had been allegedly scamming several members of the Nepali community in the pretext of Hundi since the past 7 years.
KC, who used to run a Hundi (illegal money transfer system) from Australia, was mired in several controversies. Earlier, in 2020, many members of the community, including several international students came forth with complaints that they had been duped. According to one of the students, KC would show fake deposit slips, claiming the money had been deposited into the person’s account, whereas the situation would be otherwise.
Out of their wits, the victims had reached out to community leaders, who in turn had suggested they go to the police with their complaints. Victorian Police then launched and investigation, and nabbed KC on Thursday, as per sources.
It is also understood that further investigation is under way, and KC will appear before court in November.
Duped more than AUD 200,000
According to MNTV Australia, Mr. KC was successful in duping more than AUD 200,000 from 11 of his victims. Apart from this, Mr. KC also owes thousands of dollars to more than 26 people.
Many of his victims are international students. Already suffering due to the pandemic, they were also unable to pay their tuition fees as KC wouldn’t release the owed amount.
Multiple time offender:
KC is also a multiple time offender, as per media reports. According to an intervention by Nepalese Association of Victoria, NRNA Victoria, and other community leaders including news-editor of MNTV Australia, Mr. Chiranjebi Devkota, KC had pledged to return 50% of the owing amount to the victims within a month, and to clear the remainder gradually.
“However, KC did not live up to his promise”, as per MNTV editor Devkota. “Instead acting against his promise to refrain from pursuing such deceitful acts, he went ahead and started duping other students instead”, Devkota added.
Have you been scammed?
If you have been scammed by Bharat KC, you can reach out to your local police for assistance. Regarding KC’s case, you can reach out to Fawkner Police station (03) 9355 6000 or [email protected] to register your complaint. You can reach out to them no matter which state you reside in.
If you have been scammed by other hundi agent, you can also reach out to your local police station and register a complaint.
Meanwhile, Nepalese Voice Australia urges members of the community to refrain from practicing in illegal money remittances such as Hundi.
