Police in Mumbai, India have arrested a Nigerian man who posed as a UK-based doctor and perpetrated a series of love scams targeted at Indian women.
Reports monitored in the Indian media indicate that the Nigerian man was identified as Fulgence Kuoadia.
The culprit, based in the Indian capital, Delhi, allegedly befriended Indian women on social media. He was accused of allegedly fronting as a doctor based in the United Kingdom. His scam involved siphoning money as Customs clearance fees for gift parcels stuck at the airport; or in some cases, sweet-talking his victims into parting with their bank account details and ATM cards.
The Nigerian man was arrested in Delhi on Friday, November 6, 2020.
His arrest came following a complaint lodged by a 45-year-old woman from Sakinaka, Mumbai in July. The 45-year-old woman, in her official complaint to the Police, accused the Nigerian man of targeting her on social media; as well as preying on her search for love.
“In March, I received a Facebook friend request from one Dr Mark Donald from the UK and accepted it. Soon, we started chatting regularly. In June, he told me that he was sending me some expensive gifts.
“Later, I received a call from a person who claimed to be from Delhi airport customs department. He asked me to transfer money for the undeclared gifts or I would get into trouble. Initially, the amount was less, but gradually the amount increased. I never received any of the gifts.”
However, the victim became suspicious in July and approached the Police.
The victim got suspicious in July and approached Sakinaka police. Subsequently, the Police swung into action and arrested Kuoadia in Delhi’s Dwarka locality after keeping a watch on him for eight days.
Equally important, his arrest was secured after the police followed the money trail of the Rs 7.6 lakh that his latest victim had transferred to six bank accounts.
The Police were shocked to find that one of the accounts belonged to a Goregaon woman, who was also a victim, the Times of India reports. Further, the police found out that the Nigerian man had bank account details; as well as ATM cards of at least six women from Goa, Kerala and Mumbai.
One of the Police officers involved in the arrest revealed that the Nigerian man led a lavish lifestyle in India.
“The accused had come to India on a business visa. He used the money to fund his lavish lifestyle here,’’ he said.
Further, the Police revealed that the suspect had changed his SIM after suspecting that he was being followed.
“But he was caught after he texted his new number to a friend,” the Police said.
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