Businessman cheated of Rs. 18.63 lakh in Nigerian fraud

November 27, 2014 11:42 pm | Updated October 05, 2016 04:35 am IST - HYDERABAD:

A Nigerian gang, which cheated a city-based businessman of Rs. 18.63 lakh on the pretext of selling a BMW car, was busted by the Cyberabad police on Thursday. A Hyundai Accent car, laptop, tablets, 19 mobile phones, two debit cards and 19 SIM cards were seized from them.

Additional DCP (Crimes) B. Srinivas Reddy said the prime accused, Pascal Emmanuel alias Bo-lo (34), posted an advertisement on online classified portal ‘quikr.com’ for the sale of a BMW car.

An interior decorator, Shaik Jeelani Basha, of LB Nagar, contacted Pascal after seeing the advertisement. Pascal introduced himself as George Friederic, an employee of the US Consulate, and told the former that he was returning to the US and so wanted to sell his BMW 520d 5 series car. Pascal convinced Basha that the car was with the customs authorities in Mumbai and struck a deal for Rs. 14 lakh, the official said.

As part of the deal Pascal asked Shaik to deposit Rs. 1.5 lakh as demurrage charges and collected another Rs. 4 lakh from him and asked him to pay the remaining balance after taking delivery of the vehicle.

Meanwhile, Pascal asked his accomplice, Sajida Abdul Hamid alias Sanjana Singh, to call up Shaik. “The woman telephoned Shaik and introduced herself as a customs official and convinced Shaik to deposit Rs. 13.13 lakh in different bank accounts for getting the car. The businessman followed her instructions and deposited the money,” Mr. Reddy said.

Pascal took the help of Paul Osemweigie (43), Oluikpe Sunday Onyegbula (29) and Tony Chinedu Unigwe (31), who opened accounts in different banks through fraudulent means with the help of one Talla Mojesh, to withdraw the money. However, as he did not get the BMW car even after shelling out Rs. 18.63 lakh, Shaik got suspicious and approached the Cyber Crime police and lodged a complaint. A police team led by Inspector Md. Riyazuddin laid a trap in Mumbai and caught the gang members.

The police were shocked to find that the gang members were leading a lavish lifestyle. Expensive footwear, wrist watches, branded sunglasses, apparel and cell phones were seized from them. The police said that all the Nigerian nationals were staying without valid documents. “Initially they came on medical and students visas,” the police said.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.