NEW DELHI: A 29-year-old African national was arrested for allegedly duping over 100 women claiming to be a UK-based Korean jewellery businessman and luring them with false promises of a personal relationship and business collaboration, police said on Monday.
The accused has been identified as Stephane, also known as K Cee Dominic, a resident of Tilak Nagar.
A case was registered on September 24 following a complaint from a woman alleging that she had come into contact with Duck Young (Stephane’s fake identity) through a language-exchange app. This app helps users practice languages by chatting with native speakers from around the world. The suspect introduced himself as a UK-based Korean jewellery businessman.
After gaining her trust, he claimed immigration officers detained him at Mumbai airport for travelling to India without his medical facility card. Thereafter, she received calls from two Indian mobile numbers, the callers posing as immigration officials and asking for money for clearance. She transferred Rs 48,500 through UPI. However, she refused an additional demand for Rs 2 lakh, police said.
Following investigations, police arrested Stephane from Tilak Nagar, DCP (Shahdara) Prashant Gautam said. An inspection of his cellphone revealed that he had been chatting with over 100 women across India, using the same modus operandi to lure them with promises of personal relationships and business collaboration, Gautam said.
Stephane came to India on a six-month tourist visa in 2019, but overstayed. He ran out of his savings and engaged in wrongful activities by creating a fake online identity, Duck Young, on the app. He targetted single women, the DCP added.