A gang of cheats including two Nigerians has been arrested for allegedly duping a retired bank manager to the tune of Rs 1.89 crore through a social networking site, police said today.
Bharat Bhushan Kaul complained to the police that he paid Rs 1.89 crore in instalments to the accused who had promised him huge profits in a business of seeds that could be used by foreign companies in manufacturing medicines for diseases like AIDS and Parkinson's, said Pushpendra Kumar, DCP (West).
Ikuoma Vitalis and Prince Bin Noka, both natives of Nigeria, were arrested along with their Indian accomplices Rajesh Khanna and Dalip Kumar, said the officer.
Police recovered several ATM cards, laptops, mobile phones and the record of SMSs which they sent to people they had duped earlier, various receipts of ATM transactions and other documents related to money transactions from their possession.
Kaul said in his complaint that he befriended Amy Bell through Facebook who then introduced him to another person claiming himself to be Dr Rachel Green from a pharmaceutical firm based in Portugal. Green offered him business of natural seeds used in manufacturing of AIDS and Parkinson's diseases.
The victim deposited Rs 1.8 crore in the accounts provided by the accused to become a business partner in supplying the seeds to foreign countries, Kumar added.
