The Whitefield police have arrested a 25-year-old Nigerian, his wife, and four of his relatives in Delhi for allegedly duping people online. The accused — Bright Mudakashi, his wife Devain Madukashi, and their relatives Emanuel Vasama, John Alex, Ejiju Madukashi, and Maria Emanuel Madukashi — were nabbed in Delhi on November 24, and produced before the city court.
“Using fake profiles, the prime accused, Bright, would pose as a successful white-collar professional on marriage portals and social media platforms to befriend people. After gaining their trust, he cheated them,” said a senior police official.
The police seized four laptops and 10 mobile phones from the accused. An analysis of the gadgets found that they had made transactions in 58 banks accounts, of which 28 were international accounts.
In one such case, he allegedly approached a private firm employee on shaadi.com, and introduced himself as Raj Kishore, a civil engineer based in Malaysia. After the two “got to know each” other by chatting online and on the phone, he proposed that they get married. “The accused communicated with the woman using a foreign SIM to make her believe that he was living in Malaysia. They would chat regularly on WhatsApp. In this way, he got her to trust him before proposing to her,” said the police official.
On November 2, the accused sought her help to get a consignment delivered from another country to him, for which he needed money urgently. He promised to return the money to her without delay. Believing him, the woman transferred ₹24.5 lakh to the account which he gave her.
However, soon after receiving the money, he stopped taking her calls, and disconnected his phone, following which the woman approached the Whitefield police. Based on her complaint, the police tracked down Bright to Uttam Nagar, New Delhi. According to the police, his wife and relatives were also part of the scam.
“Inquiries have revealed that Bright and his family have duped 10 people using different SIM cards,” said the police, adding that the accused did not have valid travel documents.
