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(This article is part of The Quint's special series bringing out the inside story of India's examination mess. Please support our coverage and help us do more such deep-dive stories.)
Abandoned shops, a fast food outlet, leaking ceiling, and non-functional lifts and escalators — the Angel Mega Mall in Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad, on the outskirts of Delhi, does not exactly qualify as a shopper's paradise.
The first sign of commercial activity inside this mall appears on the third floor, where little known insurance companies occupy a few shops. It was from one of these shops that a couple and their business partner allegedly duped the families of young medical aspirants of lakhs of rupees on the pretext of securing them berths in medical colleges in Spain.
"We found out about The Internationally through an advertisement on social media," recalled Anita Meena, a government employee from Jaipur, currently posted in Delhi. Anita's 18-year-old son Anurag left for Spain in January to pursue an undergraduate degree in medicine, with the help of The Internationally, a Ghaziabad-based education consultancy.
As per their social media profile, The Internationally is a consultancy which "specialises in helping Indian students pursue their dreams of studying medicine in Europe at the world's top medical school."
"We were told that after finishing a six month long language course, Anurag will start his MBBS studies at the University of Barcelona. Now, it's almost been over seven months and my child is in Spain but there's no word on his admission. His visa is also set to expire soon," an exasperated Anita told The Quint.
On 4 July, Anita, along with parents of five other aspirants who claim to have been duped by this organisation, registered a complaint at Ghaziabad's Kaushambi Police Station.
Based on their complaint, a case was registered against Vivek Kumar, Rahul Gautam, Archana Gautam, and three others — all associated with The Internationally — under sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (use of forged documents), and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Each year, several countries attract a large number of Indian students wanting to pursue higher education. As per data by the central government, over seven lakh Indian students went abroad in 2022 to pursue higher education. The government, however, did not provide course-specific data.
The Quint spoke to industry experts who claimed that every year, roughly 25,000-30,000 Indian students go to countries such as Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Nepal, Canada, and Kazakhstan among others to study medicine. A significant number of students also get fooled by fraud agents and counsellors while applying for MBBS courses in these countries.
This piece narrates the ordeal of such students and their families; delves into why Indian students prefer to go abroad to study medicine; and explores the modus operandi used to fool several aspirants and their families by fraudulent agents and agencies such as The Internationally.
The Modus Operandi
The main complainant in the FIR filed at the Kaushambi Police Station, Pramod Raghavan, told The Quint, that he initially grew suspicious of the activities of this company when his daughter's first visa application was rejected by the Consulate General of Spain in Mumbai.
Even in his complaint to the police, he said, "I first came in touch with The Internationally in August last year. After multiple rounds of correspondence through email, I sent money to Archana Gautam's account in two instalments. The first instalment was of Rs 1,50,000 and the second instalment was of Rs 7,50,000. Additionally, I also got a State Bank of India Demand Draft worth Rs 7,000. My daughter's first visa application got rejected on 11 December 2023. The officials at the Spanish Consulate told us that the documents regarding her college admission are false. Following which, I grew suspicious, and demanded clarification. As a result, they started ghosting me."
While Raghavan's suspicion led him to not engage with consultancy any further and demand a refund, which he's still waiting for, other parents including Nitish Agarwal from Haryana's Nuh, weren't as lucky.
Nitish's son, Suyash, 18, returned from Spain earlier this week.
"He (Suyash) is still in shock," a hapless Nitish told The Quint.
"In Spain, they enrolled my son in a language course for six months. We were told that after this course was done, he'd start his MBBS education. But three months on, they started dangling a new carrot each day. First they told us that Spanish students have launched a protest against universities admitting foreign students. Then we were told that my son will have to sit for an entrance exam to get a seat. This was when we had already deposited over Rs 20 lakh in their bank accounts. This money was supposed to cover my child's hostel stay. That didn't happen. He was made to stay in a dormitory and was later thrown out. Basically, we were also then sending him money for his daily stay and food. I've been robbed of all my savings," he added.
Testimonies of several people in complaints registered across states including Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and Haryana lay bare the alleged modus operandi of The Internationally:
People associated with this consultancy allegedly first lured medical aspirants through different means including social media advertisements.
Their social media accounts including Instagram and YouTube had testimonies of aspirants claiming how they were able to secure berths in prestigious international universities with the help of the consultancy.
They then introduced aspirants and their families to their counterparts in Poland, Germany, and Spain to gain trust.
For visa purposes, students were enrolled in language courses in these respective countries.
They allegedly asked parents to deposit almost half of the total amount (Rs 15-20 lakh) before the child left for Spain and the other half was demanded on the completion of the language course.
Once the money was deposited, they would ghost aspirants and their families for long durations.
"...basically, I paid over Rs 20 lakh to get my child enrolled in a language course," Nitish told The Quint. "We've been telling Suyash to move on and plan his life and career ahead but he is not in that space right now. He has already lost almost two years in this process. But we'll fight these people legally," he added.
A Deeper Rot
The Police, so far, has arrested Archana Gautam, one of the accused in the case. Other accused are still on the run. "The Mumbai Police came and arrested Archana Gautam in connection with an FIR filed in Mumbai. Other accused are absconding," DCP (Trans Hindon) Nimish Patil told The Quint.
Anita, whose son Anurag is still in Spain, had noticed some red flags regarding the consultancy's behaviour before her son left the country.
"We did notice some red flags initially. They weren't prompt with their responses. When our visa requests were stalled, they said they would get the concerned officer transferred through some 'setting'. I even warned Anurag that if this is their behaviour now, it will only worsen once he's there. But my son convinced me that in Spain we'll not have to deal with these people but the universities. Who knew that all those promises were fake?" she said.
For parents such as Anita and Nitish, sending their children to other countries for an MBBS degree via these consultancies is still a lucrative option. "They said that a degree in Spain would cost us around Rs 40 Lakh in total. This is less than half of what we'd have spent here in private colleges in India. Why will we not show interested," Nitish explained.
Deepak Kumar, the Chief Operating Officer (COO), an expert at MBBS consultancy Softamo Education Services Private Limited, said that the problem of scamsters in the system has no solution.
"Each year, around 18-20 lakh students appear for the NEET exam. India only has around 50,000 government and 50,000 private medical seats. Where will the others go? Even at private colleges, the degrees are unaffordable for many. Countries like Nepal, Russia, Ukraine are full of Indian students. They schedule their counselling according to the schedule in India. So, we can't stop students from going out. What we can do, however, is ask them and their families to be more vigilant each step of the way," Kumar said.
He added that these scams can be avoided if aspirants and their families follow a simple checklist. Money should always be credited to the university's account and never to the consultancy. Receipts and documents related to all transactions must be kept safely. And consultants should be paid only after the admission is confirmed.
Stranded in Spain
Anita's son Anurag, currently in Spain, is not alone. While many aspirants decided to return to India once they figured out about the scam, several stayed back.
"They told us that there is still a chance that he gets admission after clearing an entrance exam being conducted by the universities there. A score of four out of 10 was necessary to get a seat. My son scored 7.5 and is still in the waiting," she said, concerned with the mounting bill of her son's stay in Spain.
Several parents also alleged to The Quint that after duping them of lakhs of rupees, people from this consultancy called them to threaten about their children's behaviour. "They said my daughter was caught by the police doing drugs. And it is due to her own behaviour that she's not getting a place at any university," a parent alleged.
Another parent was allegedly told that their child was involved in a sex racket and taken in by the police, which is why the university struck the child's name of the list.
Meanwhile, the Indian Embassy in Spain said it was cognizant of the issue. "This embassy is cognizant of this issue as it was brought to our notice by several aggrieved students. They had been promised admission to Spanish universities on the basis of fraudulent Admission Letters, and had been allegedly misled on the requirements for admission. This embassy had contacted the concerned universities and they had clarified that the admission letters in question were not issued by them," Aman Chandran, Press Secretary at the embassy, told The Quint.
Chandran added: "With respect to the students themselves, the embassy is in regular contact with them and has extended all possible assistance as and when required."
DCP Nimish Patil also added that the police is trying to address the technical difficulties in getting the students to return to India. "We've frozen the bank associated with this company. The refund will be processed according to court order. As far as the students are concerned, we are assessing what are the technical difficulties in getting them back and will address them soon," the DCP said.
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