Thrissur: Police have arrested a Nigerian national accused of cheating a Thrissur native of ₹1.9 crore through fake promises made on Facebook. The Thrissur City Crime Branch nabbed Austin Ogba from East Mumbai with the help of the Mumbai Police. 

The fraud began on March 1, 2023, when the victim befriended a woman on Facebook, one of the accused in the case. The woman claimed to have escaped war-torn Syria to Turkey. She told him she had two boxes containing US dollars and valuable items stored with the Middle East Vault Company in Egypt.

She convinced the victim that the boxes could be delivered to India and asked for money to cover document expenses. Believing her story, the victim transferred ₹1.9 crore over multiple transactions between March and June 2023. 

Later, realising it was a scam, the Thrissur resident filed a complaint at Ollur Police Station. A case was registered, and on the directive of Thrissur City Police Commissioner R Ilango, the investigation was handed over to the Crime Branch.

A special investigation team was formed, led by Crime Branch Assistant Commissioner Y Nizamuddin. The team examined transaction records and Facebook-related documents. They also investigated a meeting with one of the suspects in Bengaluru and analysed flight passenger manifests linked to the accused.

The investigation revealed the involvement of an organised online fraud syndicate. The arrested suspect was presented in court and remanded. Efforts are ongoing to trace and apprehend the other suspects.

The investigation team included Cyber Police Station Inspector Sudheesh Kumar, Crime Branch Sub-Inspector Vinod KR, Senior Civil Police Officer Vinod Shankar, and Civil Police Officers Sharath and Prashanth.