Delhi Police bust int'l racket of fraudsters; 2 foreigners held

New Delhi, Jan 9 (IANS) With the arrest of two foreigners, including a woman, the Delhi Police have busted an international racket of fraudsters involved in cheating people on the pretext of "Customs clearance, RBI fee", among others, an official said on Monday.

The arrested individuals were identified as Benita Gift Agene (27), presently residing in Chhatarpur Pahari, and Izunna Paul Uzoma (34), living in Maidan Garhi -- both from Nigeria.

The arrest came after Delhi Police received a cheating-related complaint.

The complainant claimed that he came into contact with a UK-based girl, namely Rebecca, on the Internet.

"Soon they became friends and started chatting and calling on WhatsApp. She told the complainant that she was working with Citibank Power Station, UK, and wished to visit historic places in India. She also shared her flight ticket from Heathrow to Mumbai via Dubai with the complainant," said Deputy Commissioner of Police, Hemant Tiwari.

On November 20, 2023, the complainant received a call from a fake "Customs officer from Mumbai airport", who told him that Rebecca was facing some document-related issues at the airport for which she needed some money for Customs clearance.

"They shared bank account details and directed him to deposit money in the said account. Initially, he refused to give any money but she then started crying and promised to return the money. She also told him that her card was blocked and all her belongings were under Customs clearance," said the DCP.

Hence, the complainant agreed to help her and initially paid Rs 50,000 on "humanitarian grounds".

"After some time, the fake officer again called him, and they forced him to deposit more money in the accounts given by them on one pretext or another. Finally, he had deposited around Rs 7,00,000 (approximately) in different bank accounts on different dates," said the DCP.

During the probe, on the basis of technical surveillance, both accused persons were arrested.

During questioning, Benita revealed that she hails from Nigeria and belongs to a poor family.

"She came to India to study for study/job and started looking for a job. After some time in the year 2022 (October), she met Izzuna Paul Uzoma (the co-accused) at a club. He told her that she could earn money if she joined him, as they were duping people by impersonating as foreign-based friend," said the DCP.

He asked her to call the people in India and develop friendship. They used to send pictures of UK-based girls to gain the faith and trust of victims.

"She had travelled to many countries, so she was familiar with the security process at international airports. She used to send fake air tickets to gain their faith and confidence. She revealed that she had been calling the complainant of the instant case in the name of Rebecca through WhatsApp from a UK number," said the DCP.

The UK number and all other things, such as Indian SIM cards, Indian bank accounts, and other things, were arranged by Izunna Paul.

"They would collect the data of their prospective clients from an app and usually make WhatsApp calls from international mobile numbers," the DCP said.