A 32-year-old Nigerian man based in India has been arrested by the police for allegedly defrauding an Indian of N22.91 million.
The suspect identified as Okeleve Frankline Chibundom.
Mr Chibundom who resides in south Delhi”s Mehrauli area had defrauded the Indian citizen by posing as an executive of a Tokyo-based pharmaceutical company selling herbal seeds, police said on Sunday.
He alongside his accomplice, duped several people after approaching them on social media, they said.
Chibundom’s activities came to police”s notice after a resident of southeast Delhi”s Sarita Vihar made a complaint against the accused in February this year.
According to the complainant, on November 29 last year, one Takeshi Mochida, posing as an executive of a Tokyo-based pharmaceutical firm, contacted him through LinkedIn regarding supply of 10,000 packets of a herbal seed for medical purposes.
Chibundom was identified and later arrested through technical surveillance and by tracing bank account transactions, they added.
During interrogation, the accused disclosed that he used to send bulk emails to people through LinkedIn and Facebook, promising them good opportunities in the business of herbal and rare seeds, said
Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southeast) Kumar Gyanesh.
He created fake websites of big pharmaceutical firms and also involved his live-in partner in the plan, the officer said.
His partner used fake names and spoke to the targets in Hindi to lure them into purchasing the seeds. After their job was done, they blocked their contacts, he added.
The police however said that it has recovered the gadgets used by these suspects which includes Three mobile phones, five ATM cards, one laptop and one hard disk.
