Mumbai, March 13: The Bombay High Court has refused to grant bail to Jerry Philips Jacob (46), accused of allegedly trafficking unemployed educated youth to Southeast Asia on the pretext of lucrative jobs and forcing them to carry out cyber frauds, observing that the “offence is serious in nature”.
Court finds prima facie case of trafficking
A bench of Justices Ajey Gadkari and Shyam Chandak, on March 10, held that there was a prima facie case showing that the accused persons had trafficked educated but unemployed youth from India by promising them lawful employment with foreign companies.
“After trafficking the victims, they were forced to indulge in acts of deceiving people from other countries for unlawful gains,” the court noted.
Victims allegedly threatened and extorted
The bench said that when the recruited job seekers refused to carry out illegal online activities, they were first lured with promises of promotion and later threatened with dire consequences.
“The victims were subjected to extortion for securing their release from the workplace and for facilitating their return to India… The offence is serious in nature,” the court said.
Court cites risk of absconding
Refusing bail, the court observed: “It appears that, after release on bail, the Appellant is likely to abscond and tamper with the prosecution evidence. Therefore, we are not inclined to grant him bail.”
Accused claimed victims knew nature of work
Jacob, arrested in 2024, had sought bail contending that the victims were aware of the nature of the employment and had been provided with formal employment contracts. He claimed that he had neither induced the victims to travel abroad nor subjected them to trafficking or slavery.
The court, however, noted that when the victims had asked about the nature of the work before leaving India, they were told that they would be engaged in lawful activities.
Once abroad, they were allegedly made to operate fake social media profiles and develop online identities to initiate conversations with people from other countries regarding cryptocurrency investment opportunities and persuade them to deposit money.
NIA investigation details
The High Court noted that the evidence submitted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the prosecuting agency, indicated that Jacob was fully aware of the fraudulent activities.
According to the NIA, Jacob and four others, including two foreign nationals, between December 2022 and March 2023 targeted Indian youth proficient in computers and English by promising high-paying jobs in Thailand. The victims were allegedly sent on tourist visas to the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone in Laos via Thailand and forced to work in fraudulent call centres.
The agency alleged that the victims were tortured and subjected to conditions amounting to slavery. When some approached the Indian Embassy seeking rescue, the accused allegedly abused and assaulted them and confiscated their passports. The victims were later rescued by local police and repatriated to India, after which they lodged a complaint.
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Charges under multiple laws
The accused have been charged under provisions of the Indian Penal Code relating to human trafficking and slavery, as well as under the Immigration and Foreigners Acts.
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