Nigerians among three held for fraud

A Nigerian couple and an Indian national were arrested from Navi Mumbai Saturday for allegedly cheating a 57-year-old woman of around Rs 75 lakh in an online fraud, police said.

The woman and one of the accused, who identified himself as an American, have been friends on social media since 2017.

A police official said the woman was duped by her "friend" when he asked her to pay Rs 74.25 lakh to clear his consignment of gold and cash in May 2018 from the Customs.

The accused had promised to pay the woman double the amount, in addition to 20,0000 pounds, he said, adding that the woman deposited the money in several instalments in the bank accounts, whose details were provided by the fraudster.

As the accused stopped answering her calls, the woman realised that she was cheated and approached Mahim police station in June 2018, he said. The case was later transferred to the cyber cell of crime branch.

During investigation, police traced the money trail to 30 banks accounts located in places like Mizoram, Delhi and Hyderabad.

Based on specific information and technical details, police picked up Ashoke Borade (40), an autorickshaw driver from Navi Mumbai, and the Nigerians identified as Amra Obsogyu (32) and his wife Khistabel (30).

The trio have been booked under section 420 (cheating) of the IPC and provisions of Information Technology Act, the official said, adding that further investigation is underway.