A Nigerian man, Elvis Owie, has been arrested by the police in Mumbai, India over fraud allegations to the tune of N11 million.
According to the Times of India, the 31-year-old Owie was arrested Wednesday by cybercrime detectives from Vadodara, the third-largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat.
The paper quoted a police spokesman, Jaydeepsinh Jadeja as stating that the suspect was arrested for duping an Indian businessman, Mayank Shah, who filed a formal complaint.
Owie, who posed as a trader, was said to have deceived the complainant, also a trader, into parting with Rs 22.67 lakh (app. N11 million) for some chemicals.
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Shah had received an email on December 11, 2020, in which the sender said they would like to purchase a chemical for cancer and neurological treatment from India.
Shah reportedly got another email the next day asking him to get a quotation from a local supplier, Archana Enterprises, and send to the buyer.
After sending the quotation, Shah got another email the next day from Tikomed AB Company to place order for the chemical, following which he sent Rs 89,000 (app. N467,250) to Archana Enterprises bank account for getting sample of the chemicals.
Upon getting the sample material, Shah then went ahead to place a bigger order for the chemicals from Archana Enterprises, transferring Rs 22.67 lakh in three separate installments to the company’s bank account.
Although he got 10 litres of the chemicals, Shah told police in a formal complaint he filed that they were fake.
Shah approached the police after the suspect blocked him on the WhatsApp number through which they communicated and he received no reply on the email id.
The police spokesman, Jaydeepsinh Jadeja said that Owie was traced through the bank account number with which he received the funds and other technical sources.