ED: Raids in Maharashtra and Kerala in case of recruitment of nurses for Kuwait government, Rs 76 lakh seized

The ED on Friday said the raids were carried out in Maharashtra and Kerala as part of its money laundering probe in a case related to cheating in the recruitment of Indian nurses for the Kuwait government. Under this, searches were carried out at the residential premises of PJ Mathew, owner of Mathew International in Mumbai, and several other commercial and residential premises located in both states. During this period, an amount of Rs 76 lakh was located in bank accounts, and documents of immovable property worth about Rs 12 crore were seized.
The agency said that the case registered under money laundering is based on a CBI FIR. PJ Mathew and his son Thomas Mathew along with Mohd Naina Prabhu entered into a criminal conspiracy in the year 2015 for the recruitment of nurses in the Kuwaiti Ministry by using fraudulently obtained licenses. Prabhu owns Mumbai-based Munavara Associates and the company obtained this license from the Government of India.
The agency said the accused recruited nurses in Kochi by charging around Rs 20 lakh from each applicant, while the maximum amount of service fee is limited to Rs 20,000. The ED said that PJ Mathew and his associates duped nursing migrants and earned Rs 205.71 crore through crime.