Two Nigerian nationals allegedly involved in an online lottery racket, were arrested by the Shivajinagar police here on Wednesday. The duo had allegedly duped several people across the country of crores of rupees on the pretext that they had won Internet lottery.
The police confiscated a mobile phone, a fake passport and a laptop from Kevin Otubu (35), a resident of Kofex Street in Lagos, and Nafiu Luqman Oyejunde of Lawal Street of Oshogbo city in Nigeria.
The arrest followed a complaint by Akram Pasha, residing near Jain Temple Street in Shivajinagar. Mr. Pasha, who runs a grocery store, told the police he was duped of Rs. 8.15 lakh by the duo.
The two allegedly sent a message to his mobile stating he had won a cash prize of ?1 million and that if he wanted to claim it, he should pay a deposit as “clearance fee for release of lottery prize money from the Reserve Bank of India”. Mr. Pasha deposited Rs. 8.15 lakh in three bank account numbers provided by the duo. “When he did not receive the money even after a few weeks, he approached us on April 8. Subsequently, we laid a trap and arrested the two when they came here to collect some more money,” an official at the Shivajinagar police station told The Hindu . Police have registered a case.
Another fraud
The Central Crime Branch on Saturday arrested three men, all employees of the Bangalore District and Ramanagaram District Cooperative Corporation Bank's Kanakapura branch, on charges of fraud that allegedly amounted to a loss of Rs. 1.56 crore to 32 self-help groups (SHGs) in three districts.
The accused had promised loans to the SHGs and had obtained signatures on the documents and “sanctioned” the loans between January and February last year.
However, instead of releasing amounts to the beneficiaries, they transferred the amount to their accounts, CCB officials said.
The arrested are bank manager K.N. Swamy Gowda of Maharaja Katte Main Road in Kanakapura, in-charge manager H. Krishna Honnaiah of Ranganatha Layout in Kanakapura and N. Narasimhe Gowda (42) of Yadavanahalli village in Kanakapura. The latter is the former president of T. Hosahalli Vyavasaya Seva Sahakara Sangha in Kanakapura taluk.
Police attached to the Fraud and Misappropriation Squad of CCB arrested the three and recovered cash, cellphones and documents.
Till last month, the SHGs were not aware of the loans raised against their names. The fraud came to light when they received notices for non-payment of loans from the bank.
