A 26-year-old Nigerian woman was arrested from Delhi in connection with an online cheating case in which a Mumbai woman lost Rs 17.22 lakh (about 8,984,636.22 Nigerian Naira) after the foreigner”s male aide posed as a commercial pilot from the UK and promised to marry the victim, an official said on Wednesday.
The arrested woman has been identified as Jacinta Owokonu Ophana, currently a resident of Guru Nanak Nagar in Delhi, while her 31-year-old male aide, Diaby Amara alias Daniel, is absconding, the official said.
The incident came to light when the 32-year-old victim approached the Vinoba Bhave Nagar Police Station in suburban Kurla with a complaint that she was cheated of Rs 17.22 lakh by a person named as Andrea Oliviera, he said.
Oliviera befriended the victim on Instagram by posing as a resident of the UK and a commercial pilot working in Russia, he said.
During their conversations, Oliviera promised to marry the victim and sent “expensive gifts” in August-September 2020, the official said.
After some days, a woman contacted the victim and told her to collect the gifts from the Mumbai airport by paying various duties and taxes, he said.
The woman had given details of a bank account to the victim to deposit duties and taxes before collecting the gifts, the official said.
Accordingly, the victim deposited at least Rs 17.22 lakh in the account over month, but did not receive any gift, he said.
After realising that she has been cheated, the victim filed the police complaint and an FIR was lodged under relevant sections of the IPC and the IT Act.
During investigation, police found the mobile phone of the woman, who used to call the victim, was active in Delhi, he said.
Accordingly, a team of the Mumbai police raided a house in Delhi and arrested Ophana, he said, adding her male aide, who posed as the UK resident and commercial pilot, is absconding.
The arrested Nigerian woman has been brought to the city and a search is on for her male aide, the official added.
