Three Nigerians linked to a cyber fraud ring have each been sentenced to five years in prison by an Indian court for deceiving a female teacher through an online scam.
The convicts: Nelson Chigaogejimu, Francis Emeka, and Udala Chukwudi—conned the victim, an Indian school teacher, out of approximately Rs 6.3 lakh.
The Times of India reported that Chief Judicial Magistrate Richa Verma delivered the verdict on Saturday, sentencing the trio to five years in jail each.
They were also fined Rs 75,000 apiece, with an additional 15 days imprisonment if the fines are not paid.
The case was initiated by Ruchi Singh, a teacher from Aashanagar employed in the Basic Education department. Prosecutor Anil Kumar confirmed the court’s ruling to The Times of India.
According to the report, Singh filed a complaint on May 30, 2020, after receiving a message from an international number on May 12, 2020, allegedly from London.
The scammer introduced himself as “Deepak Lee” and communicated through WhatsApp, claiming to have found Singh’s contact on a matrimonial website.
The fraudsters tricked Singh into believing she had an international parcel held at customs. They provided tracking information indicating the package was initially at a UK airport, then in Delhi, with claims customs fees needed to be paid for release.
A woman posing as a customs officer later contacted Singh and convinced her to transfer Rs 6,31,548 across multiple bank accounts for customs clearance. When the parcel failed to arrive, Singh reported the matter to Kotwali police following police instructions.
Police investigations identified the three Nigerians as suspects. They were arrested in Delhi on October 17, 2020, and charged under laws including cheating, forgery, the Information Technology Act, and the Foreigners Act of 1960.
The court found them guilty of forging documents to facilitate the scam involving the fictitious international parcel.
This conviction comes amid rising reports of Nigerian nationals arrested in India for similar crimes.
