MUMBAI: The police recently arrested a Nigerian couple on charges of duping a stockbroking firm staffer of Rs 16 lakh.
The two lured the victim, Sandeep Singh, into investing in a business of exporting herbal seeds for medicinal purposes. Nagbu Oraijuka (39) and his wife, Neharika(37), have been arrested. In October 2016, Singh befriended a foreign national Mercy John on a social networking website. “Mercy enticed Singh into investing in the herbal seeds trade as it was lucrative,” said Sridhar Kale, senior inspector of Bhandup police station Mercy gave him a international mobile number and asked him to contact one Valentine, a seed dealer. On Valentine’s insistence, Singh deposited cash in a bank account and he received seeds via courier. In November 2016, Valentine asked Singh to meet one William with the seed samples at BKC. Mercy sent Singh an email that forensic experts had cleared the seed samples and that he had bagged a deal to export them. When Singh contacted the seed supplier to place the order, he was asked Singh to deposit cash in an account and Singh complied. In December 2016, Mercy called him and told that as he failed to supply them the seeds the company had cancelled the contract and is likely to refund his money in US dollars. A woman posing as a Customs official contacted Singh and told him a parcel from USA had arrived and that he needed to pay duty. “When Singh asked the Customs official to give her landline number she refused to give. This raised his suspicions.” said Kale. He then lodged a police complaint.
The cops later unearthed that the racket was being operated from Delhi and that Nagbu used to play the piano in a church. He and Neharika were arrested on April 14.