KOCHI — The promise of helping students reach foreign universities has long been a lucrative business in Kerala, a state known for its diaspora ambitions. But in the heart of Kochi’s education consultancy market, that promise has now been tainted by a sprawling financial fraud.
Police on Thursday arrested Kishore Kumar Rayimol, the second accused in a ₹3.5 crore embezzlement case involving Empire Overseas Education, a prominent firm facilitating admissions to universities abroad. The arrest came after a local court rejected Rayimol’s plea for anticipatory bail.
He is among 13 individuals named in the FIR, including the prime accused, Sujith, who remains behind bars. Investigators describe the case as one of betrayal and internal manipulation, where employees allegedly turned against their own employer to siphon funds, steal data, and replicate business operations under new names.
From Office Boy to Mastermind
The alleged mastermind, Sujith, joined Empire Overseas Education in 2018 as an office boy, according to police records. A young man with aspirations to study abroad, he had initially taken up the job to fund his education. But within a few years, Sujith had gained the trust of senior management and moved into positions of financial and administrative authority.
Investigators say it was during this period that Sujith began quietly redirecting company funds to personal and external accounts. Using his access to sensitive documents, he allegedly recruited associates—including Rayimol—to help leak client databases, financial records, and proprietary admission lists to rival firms.
Police officials familiar with the case say the accused did not simply embezzle money; they systematically cloned the business model, poaching students and agents from Empire’s existing network to create parallel operations under new corporate identities.
The New Arrest and Expanding Probe
After months of surveillance, the Ernakulam police traced Kishore Kumar Rayimol to Thiruvananthapuram, where he had been living under a false identity, officers said. His arrest marks a turning point in an investigation that has stretched across multiple districts and uncovered a paper trail of forged documents, falsified receipts, and unauthorized transactions.
“Rayimol worked closely with Sujith and played a key role in setting up the shadow companies,” said an officer involved in the probe. “They used stolen company information and client data to build trust with unsuspecting students seeking overseas opportunities.”
Authorities added that the fraud was not limited to monetary loss. The company’s reputation and operational continuity were also severely damaged, with several clients losing money or facing admission delays due to duplicate offers and miscommunication.
A Wider Pattern of Trust Exploitation
The Empire Overseas Education case has drawn attention to the unregulated nature of India’s private overseas education sector, where hundreds of small and mid-sized consultancies operate with limited oversight. In states like Kerala—where migration for education and employment is deeply embedded in social aspiration—trust plays a pivotal role.
Police sources suggest the fraud reflects a deeper vulnerability within such firms: the ease with which insiders can manipulate financial systems and databases.
For now, Sujith and Rayimol remain in custody, while others named in the FIR are under active surveillance. Officials believe additional arrests are imminent as the investigation widens to examine whether client funds were laundered through shell accounts or diverted to rival entities abroad.
As one officer put it, “This was not just theft. It was a complete hijacking of an institution built on people’s dreams.”
