The infamous nursing recruitment scam accused Uthup Varghese who was said to have been nabbed by Interpol from Abu Dhabi in August 2015, is reportedly living as a free man now.
Speaking to The Times of India Uthup said that he was not arrested by the Interpol as claimed by the CNI or the media. He said he just appeared in front of the agency after they issued notice against him and he is ready to return to India and cooperate with the probe if CBI withdraws red corner notice issued against him.
He further told ToI that 1,200 nurses recruited by his firm Al Zarafa Travels and Manpower Consultancy managed to get jobs at hospitals run by the Kuwait government.
“The nursing students recruited through Al Zarafa did not register any complaints against me. The CBI suo motu registered a case against L Adolphus, former protector of emigrants, Kochi and named Al Zarafa as the second accused and me as the third accused. The CBI is yet to prove that I bribed the officer for recruiting he nurses. Similarly , I have not received any notice from the I-T department on the alleged tax evasion by Al Zarafa," he told ToI.
“If our company evaded paying tax, let the I-T department complete its assessment and send a notice. If excess money was collected by the firm as service charges, that's a financial crime. But I was booked for criminal conspiracy and cheating," Uthuppu said.
Varghese's Kochi-based recruitment firm had allegedly collected Rs 19.5 lakh from each nurse against a service charge of Rs 19,500 for job in Kuwait. He is reported to have recruited about 1,200 nurses in about a year and was allegedly involved in `300-crore nurses’ recruitment racket. Income Tax Department had seized Rs 3 crore unaccounted money from his agency's offices in Bengaluru and Kochi.