Rachakonda cops arrest 3 African impersonators for duping Indians on pretext of marriage

The accused have been identified as Serge Olivier, 33 from Ivory Coast, Owolabi Abiodun Omorilewa, 31 from Nigeria, and Osas Freedo from Nigeria.

The trio was arrested in New Delhi by Rachakonda Police. Two other accused, Kanon Evrard and Canteh Marie from Ivory Coast, are absconding.

According to police, the accused came to India on Business and Tourist visa. They were putting up in a rented room at Nihar Vihar, New Delhi. In the meantime, they learnt about cyber frauds through their African Facebook friends. They were impersonating as Europeans seeking marriage proposals.

They used to download photos of European males and females from the Internet and uploading those on matrimonial OKC App with fake names and profiles.

In one case, a person who used the fake name of Aarav chatted with a victim after becoming friends with him. The accused made a false promise of marrying her. One fine day, she received a call from the accused that he has arrived in India.

He told her that he fears being caught by the customs and central excise officials as he is carrying 4,000 pounds. He told her that he needs to pay various clearance charges for converting pounds into Indian currency. He later extracted Rs 26.3 lakh from the victim. After the girl realized that she has been duped, she filed a police complaint.

The accused have also duped other people in the name of Gift frauds etc. They had managed to open bank accounts, get passbooks and ATM/Debit Cards with the help of agents.

During the course of the investigation, a police team proceeded to New Delhi and arrested the accused. They were brought to Hyderabad on a transit warrant and sent to judicial custody.

Police have registered a case under section 417, 419, 420, 120 (b) of IPC, and section 66C & 66D of IT Act and section14 of Foreigners Act.