A 52-year-old Orthopedic MD of a prestigious hospital was cheated of Rs 40 lakh after he was honey trapped by an African woman whom he had befriended on Facebook last year. “Over a period of three months, the woman who had created a Facebook profile in the name of Sandra Cage duped the senior doctor of Indian currency worth Rs 36.95 lakh,” said a senior police officer.
Police said the same accused had cheated of an Andhra Pradesh based farmer in 2015, following which a case was registered at the Paharganj police station.
Following by the doctor at Farsh Bazaar police station, sleauths on Wednesday arrested three African nationals including a 36-year-old woman and busted a syndicate which has been duping several innocent people since 2015.
Nupur Prasad, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara) said, “The arrested accused have been identified as Oluwole Celestine, Kelechi Kenneth and Sonia,”
Prasad said, “As per the complaint, the doctor had befriended the woman through Facebook. Chatting for a month, they exchanged mobile numbers. It was on November 20 the woman, Sandra Cage, called the doctor that she has come to Mumbai airport. However, the customs had allegedly held up her £3.5 lakh and are asking to be paid clearance fee and Income Tax. The woman claimed that she was asked to pay Rs 45000/- as a penalty to immigration department and Rs 70,000 to the IT department.”
Falling in her trap, the doctor paid the amount. A day later, she called the doctor again saying that she is leaving for UK as her mother is ill. The woman fabricated a story and said the amount the doctor paid her will be repaid to him by a UK embassy agent. Following which, the doctor got a call from one Jacob who reached the doctor’s house on December 3 with a little coffer with £ 3.5 lakhs.
“Jacob offered the doctor a solution to remove the custom stamps from the currency. He demonstrated it on three notes and convinced the doctor to shell out Rs 4.5 lakhs. However, Jacob claimed that the solution bottle fell and broke and offered a new bottle for Rs 30 lakhs. The innocent doctor paid Rs 34.5 lakh cash along with the Rs 1.15 lakh to Sandra, a fictitious woman. It was only later that the doctor found out the currency notes were fake and he has been cheated than he approached the police.