Richard Ginika Izuora
A Nigerian, Akeredolu Joseph Olajide, was on Wednesday arrested by Police in New Delhi, India for allegedly duping a diamond broker.
Olajide, 48, was accused of being part of the larger group that creates fake accounts on social media through which they approach unsuspecting victims and then dupe them under the pretext of sending gifts, Indian Express reports.
The suspect was said to have contacted the diamond broker on Instagram on October 10 2020.
He had reached the broker under the name of a woman, Alex Zendra; who claimed to be a captain of a ship in the United Kingdom.
The broker told Police that Olajide had promised to send some luxury items.
“We started chatting on WhatsApp…After a few days, Zendra told me that she loves me and wanted to marry me. She aspired to start a business with me in Mumbai… On October 17, she sent me a video in which she showed branded shoes, gold chains, watches and US dollars and said that she is sending them for me.’’
While he was awaiting the parcel, the broker received a call from a woman posing as a custom official. She told him that the parcel has been seized at the airport, adding that the broker had to pay some money to get it released. He ended up transferring Rs 1.16 crore to multiple bank account numbers.
Thereafter, the broker also visited New Delhi, where he met a man who also posed as a customs official who showed him the US dollars that had been seized from the parcel. Later, when he smelt a rat, the broker approached the VP Road police station. A case of was lodged under the Indian Penal Code and the police swung into action.