The Crime Branch has arrested two foreign nationals for duping over 1,000 people across the country on the pretext of providing oxygen cylinders and COVID medicines amounting to Rs 2 crores.
The duo -- one from Nigeria and another from Ghana - were arrested by the Crime Branch team of Stars-II. While one was apprehended on Thursday, his associate was arrested on Saturday.
As per an official press note from the crime branch, the two foreign nationals along with their associates made false claims of providing oxygen cylinders and COVID medicines in the midst of the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic that has created a huge demand for oxygen and medicines.
On May 5, a complainant reported that he was in extreme need of an oxygen cylinder for his relative suffering from COVID-19. He found one mobile number on social media claiming to provide oxygen cylinders.
When the complainant contacted on that mobile number through WhatsApp message, the receiver asked him to pay Rs 16,000 for oxygen cylinder and Rs 4,000 as a delivery charge. Complainant made payment of Rs 20,000 in the given bank account of the accused with an assurance that the cylinder would reach at his address. However, on not receiving any oxygen cylinder, and after several attempts to contact the accused, a complaint was registered at Jyoti Nagar police station in northeast Delhi.
According to the Crime Branch, several complaints of cheating relating to the same mobile number have been registered at different police stations of Delhi. One of their associates operates from Bengaluru while their other associates in Africa assist in this fraud.
The accused named in the FIR are Chika Benneth, 42, and Jonathan Kojo, 44, both residents of Khirki Village, Delhi.
The crime branch informed that 165 SIM cards, 22 mobile phones, 5 laptops, 2 wifi dongles, and 4 debit cards used in the commission of the crime have been recovered from the possession of the two accused in the case.
The two foreign have so far used more than 20 bank accounts spread all over India to receive the fraudulent money.
An acute oxygen crisis in the country induced by the increasing number of coronavirus cases has pushed several people in the involvement of crimes related to all necessary medicines and medical equipments. Several cases of black-marketing, selling fake medicines/injections have been reported across the country.
( With inputs from ANI )
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