A Nigerian national has been arrested for cheating people aspiring to get jobs in the UK.
Northeast CEN Crime police arrested Nokocha Kasmir Ikemba, 39, who allegedly cheated Malar Kodi, a resident of Doddagubbi, Northeast Bengaluru, of Rs 34 lakh. He promised her a nurse's job in the UK.
Malar had worked as a nurse abroad and returned to India a few years ago. She wanted to go abroad again and raised the money to pay Ikemba by pledging her house.
In her police complaint, Malar stated that she had received a message on November 15, 2022, from an unknown email ID. The email contained details of what looked like a government website with a phone number offering jobs. When she called the number, the attendant promised her the job of a staff nurse in a UK hospital.
She was asked to pay various charges, including processing and registration fees. To complete the trap, the miscreant sent her a fake appointment letter. She fell for it and transferred Rs 34,07,542 in multiple transactions. She eventually realised that she had been cheated.
Police collected the details of the bank account to which Malar had transferred the money and the miscreant's phone number. They traced the suspect to Faridabad, Haryana, and arrested him.
Police investigations show that Ikemba arrived in India in 2016 on a medical visa and overstayed. He lived in Delhi and then moved to Faridabad. Delhi police had previously arrested him for a similar offence.
Police said Ikemba opened bank accounts using Aadhaar cards and other documents he took from poor people by paying them a few thousand rupees. He received the money in those accounts.
Two of his other victims have filed complaints at Hyderabad's cybercrime police station and at the Karur police station in Tamil Nadu. Police froze Rs 5 lakh from one of his bank accounts.