A popular UK-based Telugu YouTuber, A Rama Nandana, popular at home for her YouTube channel Nandu’s World, is in trouble after she was detained by the police at Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport on charges of foreign jobs and visa fraud. Andhra Pradesh Police has also issued a Lookout Circular (LOC) against her as part of an ongoing investigation into cheating and fraud.
According to the paper, immigration authorities stopped Nandana on Monday at Hyderabad airport. She is expected to be handed over to Ibrahimpatnam Police Station of Andhra Pradesh’s NTR district, where a case on the scam has already been registered.
So the dispute is that Nandana and her husband Jagarlamudi Madhukar promised employment opportunities, visa support, and sponsorship in the United Kingdom. The investigation is whether they used those promises to get large sums of money from aspiring overseas workers.
One of the largest complaints was filed by Mamillapalli Sivakranthi Kumar, a UK resident, who said that he paid ₹15 lakh in several instalments. The payments went to bank accounts associated with Destiny Consultancy, an organisation allegedly linked to Nandana and her husband, he claimed.
Kumar said he sought assistance for a UK visa extension and employment services as well as a certificate of sponsorship (CoS), which many foreign workers require when applying for UK work visas. But he later found out that the CoS provided to him was fake.
The complainant had also claimed that despite repeated requests for a refund, only ₹2 lakh was returned, leaving him with a huge financial loss. Based on the complaint and preliminary findings, Madhukar was identified as the primary accused, Nandana as the second accused, and Madhukar’s father Mohan Rao as the third accused in the case.
And now authorities are investigating the full scale of the alleged fraud. How many people are affected, what total amount of money has been collected, and whether there are any complaints against the accused? In addition, the consultancy allegedly involved in the scheme and the firm that arranged employment services overseas is under investigation.
Nandana has denied any wrongdoing. In a video statement released earlier, she said neither she nor her husband owned or operated the consultancy named in the complaints. She claimed their names were used and said the accusations were based on personal disputes and a calculated campaign to destroy their name.
In the High Court, the couple has also sought legal action to have the First Information Report (FIR) against them quashed. They will be able to challenge the allegations and contest the claims made by the complainants.
Nandana is also a popular online personality and posts things about her life in the UK, travel, and advice for young people who want to migrate to other countries. It is all the more compelling now that Telugu-speaking audiences have turned up. She also appeared in a film called Mana Shankara Vara Prasad Garu, where Nayanthara played the lead, and it was released earlier this year.
Police will look into financial activities, consultancy records, and statements from other complainants as the investigation goes along. The outcome of the investigation will determine if the charges will be brought to the forefront of the investigation or if the accused will be able to clear their names through legal means.
For now, the detention of the popular YouTuber has caused a great deal of discussion on social media, and followers and observers are closely monitoring developments in what could become a major overseas employment fraud case.
