MUMBAI: Sakinaka police have arrested a Nigerian national from Delhi who allegedly befriended women on social media by posing as a UK-based doctor and siphoned money from as Customs clearance fees for gift parcels stuck at the airport or sweet-talked them into parting with their bank account details and ATM cards.
The accused, Fulgence Kuoadia (33), was arrested from Delhi on November 6 based on a complaint by a 45-year-old homemaker from Sakinaka in July. The police followed the money trail of the Rs 7.6 lakh that she had transferred to six bank accounts and were shocked to find that one of the accounts belonged to a Goregaon woman, who was also a victim. The police found out that he had bank account details and ATM cards of at least six women from Goa, Kerala and Mumbai. “The accused had come to India on a business visa. He used the money to fund his lavish lifestyle here,” said a police officer.
In her complaint, the 45-year-old homemaker said: “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.”
She added: “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.”
The victim got suspicious in July and approached Sakinaka police. Zonal DCP Mahesh Reddy then supervised the team-—senior inspector Kishore Sawant, inspector Budhan Sawant, assistant inspector Liladhar Patil and detection staff—and arrested Kuoadia from Delhi’s Dwarka locality after keeping a watch on him for eight days. Suspecting he was being followed, Kuoadia even changed his SIM. “But he was caught after he texted his new number to a friend,” said Patil.