A NURSE, WHO was working in a Dublin hospital, is accused of cheating hundreds of Indian nurses out of thousands of euro each in a long-running and complex scam that involves faked documents, two men posing as HSE officials, and hundreds of thousands of euro.
In dramatic scenes on 16 April, Sooraj Muraleedharan, a registered nurse who had been working in a Dublin hospital, handed himself into police in Kerala – where he stands accused of scamming hundreds of nurses, some of whom he told to resign from their existing jobs.
Tripinathura Police have given a statement to local media in Kerala confirming that they arrested 35-year-old Sooraj on fraud charges, and that they believe many victims in different districts of Kerala to be involved.
After leaving Dublin for Kerala to surrender himself, he recorded and sent out a video in which he admits to taking money from 300 nurses, and says that he has handed himself into the police.
Sooraj also admits to collecting an amount worth over €700,000 from nurses, and says that he alone is responsible for the scam, despite the suspected involvement of others.
The actual number of victims and the amount of money made from the scam is not known.
As he sat downcast in the back of a police van in Kerala, members of the public were filming him on their phones through the windows. But until now, despite the fact that the scam was masterminded and organised from Ireland, the scandal has not been reported here.
That is in part because the nurses, on realising they had been cheated, were told that they could not contact the Irish authorities, because they could compromise the job offers of hundreds of other nurses. Now they know that the job offers were never legitimate.
These nurses, believing that Sooraj and possibly two others claiming to be HSE officials under the fictitious names ‘John Berry’ and ‘Matthew Long’ were helping them to secure jobs and work permits in Ireland, sent money and all of their personal details and qualifications. In return, they received work permits and other documents they believed to be real.
In fact, these permits were convincing fakes, with the Department of Enterprise, HSE, and Immigration services logos photoshopped on.
12 nurses speak to The Journal
Twelve nurses have told The Journal how they unknowingly submitted these fraudulent documents to the Irish embassy in India. Over 100 of them were handed down a ban from applying for a visa in Ireland for the next five years, which will also make it difficult for them to apply for jobs in other countries.
Only at this stage did they realise that it was a scam, but many were still intimidated into staying silent, and placated with promises about getting their ban lifted, securing another job in Ireland, or eventually getting their money back.
The fact that Sooraj was a nurse working in an Irish hospital encouraged many of the nurses to trust him. “Surely someone working in the Irish health system wouldn’t create fake work permits and HSE letters, we could not believe that,” one nurse said.
They were doubly assured by emails which appeared to come from two other men, who used email addresses that included “gov.ie” and “hrexecutivehse” in them and conducted interviews.This doubled their confidence that they were dealing with HSE officials.
There were some giveaways in the ‘Berry’ and ‘Long’ emails. After interviews over Google Meet, nurses were sent an email that opened ‘Hi Dear candidate How are you”, and told them “you performed excellent”. But the emails concluded in a mockup of a HSE employee sign off, and the non-native English speakers said the emails seemed perfectly legitimate.
After this email, the first request for money to be transferred to an Indian bank account controlled by Sooraj was sent.
Of the victims that The Journal spoke to, the highest amount paid out was €11,000, the lowest was €2,300, and the average amount was just under €5,000.
Sooraj’s arrest has made waves in Kerala with Indian newspapers and TV channels following the story avidly.
Several nurses who spoke to The Journal said that they had lost their existing jobs, with some leaving other countries to return to India to take part in Sooraj’s recruitment programme.
Many are now in debt, having taken out loans to pay Sooraj. One woman said that her daughter will no longer be able to attend University, as her family is now struggling financially.
They are appealing for the Irish embassy in India, and the Irish Government to remove the ban that is now preventing over 100 of the nurses from applying for jobs in Ireland, and will make it difficult for them to apply for jobs in other countries as well.
Like Irish nurses, Indians who pursue the career will often travel abroad and work in other countries for a few years, with some relocating permanently.
Most nurses first saw Sooraj’s job ad via social media or through nursing WhatsApp groups at the end of 2022. The majority did their initial interviews with the men who identified themselves as ‘Long’ and ‘Berry’ and paid out an initial sum of money in early 2023.
They waited months to receive documents that should have arrived within a few weeks. When they eventually had the necessary documents to apply for a work permit from the Irish embassy, they submitted them.
In January of this year, nurses started receiving their ‘ban letters’ from the embassy – and that was when people realised what had happened to them, and a network of victims started to form.
Irish reaction
Scores of victims have now informed the Ireland-based organisation Migrant Nurses Ireland (MNI), which is now trying to assist the victims in making an additional report to the gardaí.
Varghese Joy, from MNI, said that it is unfair that over 100 nurses now have a ban that prevents them for applying for an Irish visa for five years.
“These nurses were the victim of an elaborate scam, that involved fake documents which looked convincing to anyone who had not been through a recruitment process before, with real logos and signatures used.”
Varghese said that nurses giving money to unregistered agents has become normalised to an extent, and that these arrangements are profitable for private healthcare providers because they do not have to pay a fee to the agent, who charges the candidate.
He echoed a warning which has been released by the Indian embassy in Ireland to nurses, advising them to only deal with registered recruitment agents, who will not charge them excessive sums.
The HSE said it had no comment to make as it was a matter for gardaí. The Journal has contacted An Garda Síochána for comment.
The Journal has also contacted the men who identified themselves as HSE interviewers, and has asked them in what capacity they conducted the interviews, and what their relationship is to Sooraj.
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