Three members of a Nigerian cyberfraud syndicate have each been sentenced to five years in an Indian prison after being found guilty of defrauding an Indian school teacher through an elaborate online scam.
NEWS REVIEW gathered on Monday that the convicts, Nelson Chigaogejimu, Francis Emeka, and Udala Chukwudi. Scammed the victim, a female teacher from Aashanagar, out of approximately Rs 6.3 lakh.
According to The Times of India, the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Richa Verma, delivered the verdict on Saturday, sentencing each of them to five years in prison along with a fine of Rs 75,000. Failure to pay the fine would result in an additional 15 days imprisonment.
The case was filed by Ruchi Singh, a teacher with the Basic Education department, who received a fraudulent message on May 12, 2020, from an international number claiming to be from London. The sender, who introduced himself as “Deepak Lee”, later contacted her via WhatsApp, claiming to have found her profile on a matrimonial site and sent her a parcel.
A tracking link initially showed the parcel at a UK airport before moving to Delhi, where a woman posing as a customs officer called Singh and convinced her to transfer Rs 6,31,548 into multiple accounts for supposed customs clearance. When the parcel never arrived, Singh lodged a complaint at Kotwali police station on May 30, 2020, under the directive of the Superintendent of Police.
Prosecuting officer Anil Kumar confirmed the convictions, while Superintendent of Police Neeraj Jadaun revealed that the trio was arrested in Delhi on October 17, 2020, and have been in custody since.
The accused were charged under laws relating to cheating, forgery, the Information Technology Act, and the Foreigners Act of 1960. The court found them guilty of using forged documents to dupe the victim under the pretext of an international parcel delivery.
This case comes amid a growing list of cybercrime arrests involving Nigerian nationals in India. Just last Friday, NEWS REVIEW reported that four other Nigerians, Pepe Morepeyi, Gabriel Onyeka, Bamba Fanta, and Abigail Adonis. Were arrested in separate operations across India for alleged involvement in cyber fraud and drug trafficking.
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