Bengaluru: A Nigerian has duped 101 people of Rs 8 crore through online fraud schemes. The accused, Andrew alias Erick Peter (41), a resident of New Delhi, confessed to the crimes after the Talaghattapura police arrested and interrogated him. The police have also arrested Babli Parveen Hashmi (52), a resident of Thane district in Maharashtra, who was part of the fraud.
The police, who were investigating an online fraud case in which the accused had duped a woman, Vijaya, of Rs 50 lakh, arrested Andrew and came to know about the extent of his scams. Vijaya had complained that she came across Andrew on Facebook in August 2016. He proposed to her a business venture, which involved growing of herbs that, he claimed, would cure snake bites and diseases.
Andrew told her he would get her seed packets from Anjelika Herbal Seeds from Haryana and Gurugram and that each packet would cost Rs 40,000. Andrew persuaded Vijaya to buy seeds, saying they could be sold for a big margin in international markets.
Andrew asked Vijaya to transfer Rs 50 lakh for 100 packets of the seeds into various bank accounts in the country. When Vijaya credited the amount and asked for the seeds, Andrew started giving excuses. He told her that Customs officials were creating problems and he couldn't deliver the packets as they were asking for bribes. Later, Andrew did not contact Vijaya and fled with the money.
The police have recovered a laptop and six mobile phones from Andrew. He also had Rs 21 lakh in various bank accounts.
