The Indian police have detained a 45-year-old Nigerian man who pretended to be an American doctor in order to con a woman out of 2.91 lakh rupees on the pretense of getting married there.
The suspect, named by the police as Peter Johnson, was taken into custody on June 28, 2023, in response to a woman’s complaint, according to the police. Peter Johnson is from Lajpat Nagar in New Delhi.
Through a matrimonial website, the accused had made contact with the victim.
He was found to be in possession of 27 ATM cards, 26 mobile phones, and 15 sim cards by police.
The complainant said she has a 12-year-old kid and is working on getting a divorce from her spouse.
“She had registered herself on a matrimonial website. On January 19, 2023, she received a WhatsApp message where the caller introduced himself as Vipan from Texas in America and claimed to be a doctor following which they started chatting frequently,” police said.
The caller eventually convinced her to marry him and sought her passport details which the victim sent him on WhatsApp. The caller assured her that he had got all the legal documents prepared and informed her that he would visit India soon to marry her.
“The accused sent her his air ticket and told that he would reach India on February 13, 2023. On the same date, she received a call from one Shikha who claimed to be a police officer from the Delhi Airport Authority. Shikha informed the victim that one Vipan reached India to meet her but had an excess quantity of articles, dollars, and gold. Shikha sought ₹ 36,000 from the victim to release the said items. The victim transferred the money,” police added.
After two hours, the victim received a call from the same caller asking for 2,55,800 in exchange for releasing the surplus gold Vipan had brought. As a result of the victim’s continued belief in her, Vipan’s number and Shikha’s cell phone were shut off.
The victim reported the fraud to the local cyber police, who on March 6 at the cyber police station in Sector 17 launched a cheating and criminal conspiracy case.
After police conducted raids in Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar and Govind Puri, the accused Peter was taken into custody on June 23.
The mobile phone that was used in the crime as well as additional mobile phones, SIM cards, and ATM cards were found in his possession throughout the inquiry.