Hyderabad: After a long chase through the busy roads of Mumbai, officers of the Cyberabad Cyber Crime cell managed to nab a Nigerian national accused of cheating a resident of Hyderabad under the guise of helping him secure a business deal with a New Zealand-based firm. The accused has been identified as Abdul Mohammed Ali.
According to the police, the victim received a message on Facebook from a person who identified himself as “Dr Venessa Wilson” from the USA. After chatting for a few days, “Dr Venessa” proposed a business deal and offered the victim 50 per cent of the profit earned from the export of Centifolia BQ seeds to New Zealand.
When the victim agreed to participate in the deal, “Venessa” sent him an email containing the details of an Indian dealer identified as Meera Sharma and asked him to purchase the seeds from her and send him a sample. The victim was then asked to deposit '1.85 lakh in Meera’s bank account for the purchase of 500 grams of seeds.
The victim received a parcel containing spurious seeds on October 28. When he tried to contact Venessa, he found that he was unable to do so. Realising that he had been cheated, he filed a complaint with the police.
The victim received a message from “Venessa” asking him to meet him in Mumbai for verification of the quality of the seeds. Based on information shared by the accused, police teams were able to set up a watch for him in Bandra Kurla Complex, in Mumbai.
“The suspect approached the cops assuming that they were the party from Hyderabad. Upon realising that they were cops, he took to his heels. The police teams chased him for about one-and-a-half km and nabbed him,” said Dr Janaki Sharmila, the DCP (Crimes) of Cyberabad.
