Nigerian woman arrested in Delhi for cheating Mumbai resident

A 26-year-old Nigerian woman wasarrested from Delhi in connection with an online cheating casein which a Mumbai woman lost Rs 17.22 lakh after theforeigner's male aide posed as a commercial pilot from the UKand promised to marry the victim, an official said onWednesday.

The arrested woman has been identified as JacintaOwokonu Ophana, currently a resident of Guru Nanak Nagar inDelhi, while her 31-year-old male aide, Diaby Amara aliasDaniel, is absconding, the official said.

The incident came to light when the 32-year-old victimapproached the Vinoba Bhave Nagar Police Station in suburbanKurla with a complaint that she was cheated of Rs 17.22 lakhby a person named as Andrea Oliviera, he said.

Oliviera befriended the victim on Instagram by posingas a resident of the UK and a commercial pilot working inRussia, he said.

During their conversations, Oliviera promised to marrythe victim and sent ''expensive gifts'' in August-September2020, the official said.

After some days, a woman contacted the victim and toldher to collect the gifts from the Mumbai airport by payingvarious duties and taxes, he said.

The woman had given details of a bank account to thevictim to deposit duties and taxes before collecting thegifts, the official said.

Accordingly, the victim deposited at least Rs 17.22lakh in the account over month, but did not receive any gift,he said.

After realising that she has been cheated, the victimfiled the police complaint and an FIR was lodged underrelevant sections of the IPC and the IT Act.

During investigation, police found the mobile phoneof the woman, who used to call the victim, was active inDelhi, he said.

Accordingly, a team of the Mumbai police raided ahouse in Delhi and arrested Ophana, he said, adding her maleaide, who posed as the UK resident and commercial pilot, isabsconding.

The arrested Nigerian woman has been brought to thecity and a search is on for her male aide, the official added.

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