Bhubaneswar: The Cyber Crime Unit of CID, Crime Branch, Odisha has arrested three accused persons including two Nigerians from New Delhi for allegedly duping a Bhubaneswar man of over Rs 2.65 crore through investment fraud.
The accused are Christoper Chizobam alias Chizobam Krist, Nnamdi Stanley Mbamalu alias German, both Nigerian nationals and Arti Gautam from New Delhi.
According to an official press release, accused Arti opened bank accounts in her own name and in the names of others and shared these accounts with Christoper, who used them to transfer the fraudulently obtained money. Christoper was involved in the collection of mule accounts to facilitate the receipt of the stolen money. Nnamdi withdrew the cash from ATMs and handed it over to another Nigerian.
This organized gang of cyber criminals was operating in the guise of investment in saffron business promising high returns.
The matter came to light after a person from Bhubaneswar approached the Cyber Crime Unit, CID CB, that he was contacted through Facebook, then through WhatsApp and email in December 2023 by a fraudster impersonating as a former IAS officer from the Odisha Cadre.
The person claimed that he was working at the World Bank in Washington, DC. During social media conversations, the fraudster impersonating as an ex-IAS officer sent an email asking the victim to get involved in a project to supply saffron to the World Bank headquarters. He asked the victim to contact the World Bank procurement department via email to express interest in supplying the saffron for their project.
The fraudster then introduced a supplier, who pretended as a Regional Manager at Organics Merchandise, a marketing agent for saffron farmers in India.
They started the so-called supply business with an initial supply of 10 kg of saffron for testing and then went up to 110 kg as per the fake purchase order from the World Bank.
The victim paid a total of Rs. 2,65,15, 940 through multiple transactions to various Indian bank accounts.
When the fraudster demanded more money, the victim realized that he had been cheated and complained to the Cyber Crime Police Station, CID-CB.
On his complaint, a case was registered on 26 February 2024 under sections 419, 420, 465, 467, 468, 471, 120-B, and 34 of the IPC read with sections 66-C and 66-D of the IT Act 2000 and investigated.
A team led by Inspector Bibhu Ranjan Sundaray conducted a thorough investigation and successfully apprehended Arti Gautam in New Delhi. The subsequent clues led the team to the two Nigerians.
During the investigation, the team seized six mobile phones, two laptops, 10 SIM cards, passbooks of 10 bank accounts, two debit cards and one Aadhaar card.
From the verification in the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP) of the Ministry of Home Affairs, it has been found that this gang of cyber criminals has been involved in a series of cyber frauds across the country. Their account numbers have been used in around 94 cases covering 10 states across the nation.
