Three persons were arrested for allegedly cheating a man of Rs 13.5 lakh on the pretext of helping him make a huge profit through trade-in jatoba pods, police said on Wednesday. The accused have been identified as Perumal Stella (25), Chingerem Kalu (27) and Akinola Timothy Oluwasevan, all residents of Bangalore.
According to Urvija Goel, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), West district, a complaint was received in which the complainant alleged that he came across a woman Riona Cahil, who introduced herself as a resident of Austin, Texas, USA on a dating app in March.
“They both became friends and she informed him that she works for a company The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA). The woman gave him a business proposal stating that her company used to buy a product called Jatoba Pods from India through one of her colleagues, who has now left the organisation,” said the DCP.
“She allured him by saying that she used to buy Jatoba seeds at a cost of $300-350 per 100 grams sachet and sell the same for an amount of $ 500 per sachet. She proposed him that she can introduce him to her company as the supplier of Jatoba Pods in India and if the deal succeeds, they can make good profit together,” said the
DCP.
“Later, she introduced him to one Ankitha as a supplier of Jatoba Pods in Bangalore. She gave him Ankitha’s number. Ankitha quoted him a price of Rs 22,500 per 100 gm sachet and the complainant agreed with the proposal. The complainant received a call from a person who introduced himself as Dr Marshall Flint, the procurement head of PhRMA Austin, Texas and after their allurement, complainant made payment for 60 sachets of Jatob Seeds Rs 13,50,000,” said the DCP.
“A case was registered under relevant sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Khyala police station and during investigation, the accused were identified through technical assistance. A police team was sent to Bangalore and on early morning of Friday, two raids were conducted and accused were arrested,” said the DCP.
“Three laptops, 21 mobile phones, 24 sim cards etc. were recovered from the possession of the accused,” the DCP added.
