Cyber Fraud: CB arrests 3 persons including 2 Nigerians from New Delhi

Bhubaneswar: The Cyber Crime Unit of CID, Crime Branch, Odisha has arrested three persons including two Nigerians from New Delhi for allegedly duping a Bhubaneswar man of more than Rs 2.5 crore through investment fraud.

The arrested persons are Christoper Chizobam alias Chizobam Krist and Nnamdi Stanley Mbamalu alias German (both Nigerian nationals) and Arti Gautam from New Delhi. They are being brought to Bhubaneswar tonight, according to a release of Crime Branch.

The gang of cyber criminals was operating in the guise of investment in saffron business promising high returns. Arti opened bank accounts in her own name and in the names of others and shared these accounts with Christoper, who used those to transfer the fraudulently obtained money. Christoper was involved in collection of mule accounts to facilitate the receipt of the stolen money. Nnamdi withdrew the cash from ATMs and handed it over another Nigerian.

The racket came to light after the man from Bhubaneswar filed a complaint with the Cyber Crime Unit, CID CB. He stated that he was contacted through Facebook, then through WhatsApp and email in December, 2023 by a man impersonating as a former IAS officer from Odisha Cadre. The person claimed that he was working at the World Bank in Washington, DC.

During the course of social media conversations, the fraudster 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 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 total Rs 2,65,15,940 through multiple transactions to various Indian bank accounts.

When the fraudster demanded more money, the victim realised that he had been cheated and complained to Cyber Crime Police Station, CID-CB. On the basis of his complaint, the Crime Branch started investigation.

A team led by Inspector Bibhu Ranjan Sundaray conducted a thorough investigation and apprehended Arati Gautam from New Delhi. The subsequent clues led the team to the arrest of the two Nigerians.

During 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 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.