An Indian-origin migration agent in Perth has been barred for five years after the authority received over a dozen complaints against her.
The Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority (MARA), barred the license of migration agent Cinitta Babu, the Director of Cinaug Consultants on May 16.
The authority took the step after an investigation into complaints from 16 clients regarding alleged misconduct while she was registered as an agent.
“The authority was satisfied that the former agent took on a large number of clients and accepted their money in advance but did little or no work to act on their instructions,” reads a document released by MARA on the case.
Office of Cinaug Consultants in Perth Source: Google Maps
It continues: “She has repeatedly failed to communicate with her clients in a timely manner, was dishonest and avoidant towards her clients to conceal the fact that she had not undertaken work for which she had received payment; repeatedly failed to keep her clients informed of the progress of their matters; neglected her overriding duty to act in the interest of her clients which has resulted in the loss of visa opportunities and in some cases the clients having to depart Australia; and promised refunds to some clients but taken no action to effect such refunds."
In addition to this, after investigating the complaints the authority found that Cinitta Babu also mismanaged the client money to the value of at least $126,854 and retained without entitlement to do so.
Cinitta was registered as a migration agent in August 2012, but after the complaints, subsequent investigation MARA has now barred her from acting as a licensed migration agent for the next five years. It is the maximum period MARA can enact a ban for, and one reserved for the most severe cases.
Ritwik Sunil Sukumaran told SBS Malayalam how he lost money Source: Supplied
“Having regard to all the circumstances, however, I consider that the Former Agent’s conduct falls within the higher end of this range of severity…” says the authority.
Having received complaints about the agent since July 2017, the authority requested the Cinitta provide written submissions on the matters, but she failed to respond to the authority. Her license which had expired in August 2018 was not renewed and the authority has barred its renewal.
The investigations also found there were cases where people paid $31,740 in fees to Cinitta Babu for services not provided. While some lost the opportunity to enter Australia as a result of her actions, one of her clients was even refused permission to board a flight to Australia.
Agent's relative also lost money
SBS Malayalam spoke to individuals whose situations were not part of the MARA decision but also allege they lost thousands of dollars.
Kevin Santhosh Stanley came to Australia with the hope of pursuing his studies in International Business at Murdoch University in Perth, but was devastated when he realized that he had been allegedly cheated by Cinitta Babu, who is also his aunt.
"I got university admission through them. When it was time to pay the fees for the first year second semester, Cinitta of Cinaug Consultants, who is also my aunt, told me to pay the fees through her. As am new to Australia I too thought of doing so. As they have good hold with the university I thought paying through them can help in extension too,” Kevin tells SBS Malayalam.
“With the confidence that she is my aunt, I trusted her and paid the university fees of $4,900 to her.”
"She also told me the university might send some mail but you just have to ignore it and no need to reply as it won’t be right," he adds. "After waiting for some time I got a mail from the university saying all my units were cancelled.”
“I tried contacting her but she never answered calls. She never used to reply to my emails or text messages. I even sent her that screenshot of the mail I received from the university about reminder of paying fees. However she told me not to worry about it and that she has sorted it all out... After a while I received a mail from university that stated that my entire university admission was cancelled."
"I then informed the university about the matter. They trusted me and started investigating the matter. They then understood that my case was genuine and hence gave an extension of two months’ time to pay the fees. Meanwhile, my dad paid $,4900 again to the university as fees and they reinstated my admission. I lost a total of $4,900.”
The notification of cancellation of Kevin's enrolment from Murdoch University Source: Supplied
“It was devastation. It hurt me a lot. Mentally.. .I thought that my future is totally gone from that email," tells Kevin to SBS Malayalam.
There are also allegations that Cinaug Consultants, which reportedly has offices in Thiruvananthapuram in the Indian state of Kerala, collected money from people applying for different types of Australian visas, but did not do anything about those applications.
Ritwik Sunil Sukumaran went back to Kerala after his studies in Brisbane and alleges that he applied for state sponsorship through Cinaug Consultants through their branch in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
"I came to know about Cinaug Consultants online. It said it was operated in Perth. When I checked the reviews it was all good. I went and met Cinitta Babu at their sub-branch in Kerala and she agreed to get everything ready. So I submitted my documents and paid the first instalment fee. I felt everything is fine with them," says Ritwik to SBS Malayalam.
"They showed me the process of my application to Vetassess such as screenshots, login and the uploaded documents. I then paid the second instalment of fees too.
Source: Supplied
“However after a while when I happened to know that many people had been cheated by them, I contacted Vetassess and they said, 'The money hasn’t been paid, it has lapsed.' I lost more than $3,500 (170,000 Indian rupees)."
"I gathered all who have similar experiences from her and filed a complaint to the police in India. Kerala police have registered the complaint,” Ritwik tells SBS Malayalam.
When a number of people lost their dreams to come to Australia, many people who were frustrated with Cinitta's performance had backed out of dealing with Cinaug Consultants, as MARA explains.
“Many of the complainants reported that they became so frustrated by the Former Agent’s lack of responsiveness to their contacts that they decided to discontinue their agreements with Cinaug Consultants prior to any visa applications being lodged,” says the authority.
The authority that investigated the case found the agent’s conduct has resulted in significant harm or substantial loss to her clients.
SBS Malayalam has tried to contact Cinitta Babu of Cinaug Consultants but has received no response.
