Long drives, lavish treats before hell in Albanian mine; Parvathy Maya’s alleged job fraud victims recount horror

Kochi: They were promised decent jobs, good salaries and a better life in Europe. Instead, Ajay C P ended up working 16 to 18 hours a day in Serbia for almost no salary, while Rajesh was taken into an alleged illegal Chromium mine deep inside a freezing Albanian mountain where he collapsed after weeks of gruelling labour.

Their journeys began in Kochi offices of Parvathy Maya Shaji’s Amster Overseas, who is now accused of job fraud. Here, counsellors repeatedly called prospective migrants, showcased foreign opportunities and assured them of a better life abroad by selling European dreams.

Ajay (28) from Thiruvankulam approached Amster in 2023 after checking its online reviews. A diploma holder who had worked at a CNG plant and as a driver, he was promised a warehouse job in Poland.
“They said it was an eight-hour job and the salary would be more than 800 euros (₹87,000).

Between 2023 and 2024, I paid about ₹4 lakh as the firm repeatedly demanded money for visa and VFS (visa facilitation services) -related charges,” Ajay told Onmanorama.

When Poland failed to materialise, Ajay and nine others were persuaded to switch to Serbia.
“It had been almost two years and we did not get any visa. Then they said Serbia would be easier because there were many vacancies and no VFS requirement,” he said.

As there was no option, the group of 10, including Ajay, travelled to Serbia in July 2025. For the first two weeks, the experience appeared to match the European dream. “They picked us up and treated us lavishly. Long drives, treats, everything,” Ajay said.

But he believes those outings were part of the recruitment strategy. “What youngsters saw on our Instagram statuses were these trips and stories. That was their marketing strategy by making us post the photos and videos of the parties,” he said.

Once the work began, the promise waned. Instead of the warehouse job, Ajay said they were put into delivery work through Glovo, working 16 to 18 hours a day.

“I stayed there for about two-and-a-half months without receiving even a single penny. In the end, I got only around ₹30,000,” he said.

The workers survived largely on delivery tips and concealed the reality from their families.
“We skipped proper meals and sent some money home from the tips we got to convince them we were okay and earning well,” Ajay said.

When he decided to leave, he said the company refused to let them go. In September 2025, about two weeks before Onam, Ajay and Adithyan from Alappuzha quietly packed their bags, called a taxi and fled at midnight for a 2 am flight, booked by his parents. “Otherwise, I would have gotten stuck there,” he said.

‘Instead of quarry, Rajesh was sent to a freezing mine’
Rajesh’s family approached Amster in 2023, after he returned from Dubai, where he had worked for about 10 years. He had lost his job during COVID, and mounting home-loan EMIs pushed the family to look for another overseas opportunity.

Amster initially quoted about ₹2.5 lakh for unskilled work in Albania. But they collected nearly ₹6 lakh citing visa rejections, delays and even Russia-Ukraine war, Ambily said. The family sold around 40 sovereigns of gold, borrowed through micro-finance firms and eventually sold their house after the EMIs defaulted.

“We lost the money we had earned through years of hard work. We sold our house to avoid bank attachment,” she said.

After more than a year of delays and additional payments, Rajesh and four others flew to Albania on March 3, 2025.

About a week later, Ambily said, three of them, including Rajesh, were taken for what they believed would be quarry work. Instead, they were taken into a chromium mine deep inside a snow-covered mountain.

“There were people there with missing limbs and amputated fingers. Rajesh initially struggled to breathe but insisted on working because of the debts back home. He told me he had too many debts and couldn't return empty-handed,” Ambily said.

After around 15 days, Rajesh collapsed unconscious. His hands were bruised and bleeding from the cold, Ambily said.

The ordeal then took another turn. Ambily alleged that the group was driven towards the Greece border and tricked them into signing documents acknowledging that they had entered Greece illegally. Rajesh refused to sign. Four others signed, she said.

The youths were then allegedly threatened with being barred from Europe until 2030. Fearing arrest, four of them fled into the forest and were chased by police, according to Ambily. They ran for more than 50 km and hid there for days.

Meanwhile, Rajesh was brought back to Kochi by Amster Overseas after he said he would complain, Ambily alleged. She said Rajesh was kept at an Ernakulam lodge instead of being allowed to return home. Initially, the operators allegedly pacified him by promising a Bahrain visa and telling him he would soon be sent abroad again.

He was meanwhile made to work at a restaurant in Edappally, Ambily said. “He was doing cleaning work for almost 20 hours a day. For four months, they paid only around ₹40,000,” she alleged.

When she and Rajesh began demanding answers and threatened to approach police, Ambily said the tone changed. “We were threatened. They told us not to speak about what happened,” she said.

After an initial attempt to lodge a complaint at Palarivattom police station, Ambily approached the DCP, following which an FIR was registered. Ajay and Ambily were among the initial complainants, based on which Parvathy was arrested.

Following the arrest, Ajay settled his case after receiving ₹6 lakh from Amster and agreed to withdraw his complaint. Ambily said she recovered around ₹4 lakh against losses exceeding ₹9 lakh, but refused to withdraw her case.

Both continue to speak publicly about their experiences despite the settlements, not simply to recover their money, they say, but to warn others. “I want other families to know what happened before they trust similar promises and fall in the trap,” Ambily said.