Nigerian Man And Woman Arrested For Fraud In India

Daniel Gozie, a 38-year-old Nigerian national, was detained in India for allegedly defrauding a woman by pretending to be a high-ranking government official on a marriage website, according to authorities.

The Gurugram Police’s cyber crime unit detained Gozie and his female companion, Gabriella Sharmila, 33, on Thursday, 18 for allegedly defrauding the Gurugram-based woman of 1.73,000 under the guise of sending her pricey gifts following their online relationship.

They have turned over five mobile phones that were used in the scam, according to the police.

According to the police, the Nigerian nationals and Sharmila, a native of West Bengal’s Darjeeling, are both members of the gang that was busted on May 11.

Read Also: Two Men Arrested For Allegedly Stealing 15 Goats

Six people, including four Nigerian nationals, were detained by city police on May 11 for creating fictitious profiles of affluent Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) on a matchmaking website in order to con women there.

According to the victim’s March 31 complaint, She met a man on a matrimonial website who identified himself as Shiva Jadhav, a project manager for “Diamond Construction Limited” in Turkiye.

“The accused talked to me regularly and after some days he told me that he was sending a gift parcel for me, which contained some gold jewellery and other items,” she said in the police complaint.

Later, a woman who identified herself as calling from the Mumbai airport got in touch with the victim.

“She told me that a parcel has arrived from Shiva Jadhav in my name and to get this parcel I have to deposit ₹ 38,500 as tax,” she added.

The victim received calls requesting further expenses to receive the package even after transferring the money to a bank account held by the woman. She claimed that ₹173,000 in total was stolen from her.

Based on the victim’s allegation, a FIR was registered at the South Gurugram Cyber Crime Police Station, and the offenders were apprehended on Thursday.

“During interrogation, the accused revealed that they contact women through social media and matrimonial sites and befriended them after posing as high-ranking government officials, businessmen and doctors in foreign countries,” Gurgaon ACP (Crime) Varun Dahiya said.

After gaining their trust, the gang member phoned the victim while pretending to be a tax or customs official after promising them a gift package, according to the ACP.

“The arrested woman revealed that she had got the money transferred after posing as a customs officer. The accused Nigerian used to provide SIM cards and bank accounts to commit fraud,” the officer said.

He stated that the pair are currently being questioned while in police custody.