L Devendra

Phani Kumar Valli

Bengaluru

For having helped him earlier, he promised to get software engineer job in UK, took Rs 25L and went off the radarA 30-year-old techie was left poorer by Rs. 25 lakh after his friend turned out to be a swindler.trusted a friend,, who promised to get him a job in the United Kingdom as in an earlier phase of their life, Devendra had helped Valli. The two have been friends since their college days and Devendra had helped Valli get a job in Chennai, after which he got into another company and moved to the UK. Saying that he wanted to return the favour, Valli promised to get Devendra a job in the UK and took the money after the latter cleared the interview. Valli also asked Devendra to resign from his job and left him unemployed for four months before going incommunicado.Devendra, a resident of Marathahalli and a developer with an IT firm, has filed a complaint with the Marathahalli police.Devendra said that Valli, who hails from Madanapalle in Chittoor, was his classmate during the college days in Chittoor. After finishing his course, Devendra shifted towhere he started working as a developer. “At that time Valli was unemployed and he shifted to the city. I helped him with the accommodation and even helped with the technical skills because of which he got a job in Chennai,” Devendra told BM. He said that he later came to know that Valli had moved to the UK. “He got in touch with me from there. He told me that he wanted to return the favour and help me get a job in the UK. I sent him an email and there was an interview as well which I cleared in 2017,” he said.Valli then spoke to Devendra over the phone and asked him to make a payment of Rs. 15 lakh as a security deposit and for other expenses.“He explained to me that as per the company policy, I must resign immediately. After serving the notice period, I quit and was hoping to shift to the UK. I had taken a lot of loan and since I had quit my job, it had become difficult for me to repay them. I waited for four months and since he kept delaying it, I took a job in a small company and moved to Chennai where I did not have to serve a notice period and could quit the job as soon as the paperwork was completed.”He said that Valli was in touch with him and had told him that paper work was done. “He came to Chennai and I met him. He asked me to pay for accommodation and other expenses and asked me to give it to him in cash. I paid him another Rs 10 lakh in three instalments, and then he returned to the UK. I was in touch with him for quite some time before he started ignoring my calls and messages.” Eight months later, Devendra returned to Bengaluru when he realised it was not going to work out and took up a permanent job. “I asked him to return the money, but my calls were left unanswered. After waiting for some time, I realised he was not going to return it so I approached the police,” he said.The Marathahalli police have registered a case and are investigating.