A 32-year-old Nigerian national was arrested for allegedly duping a man of Rs 44.25 lakh by posing as an executive of a Tokyo-based pharmaceutical company selling herbal seeds, police said on Sunday. The accused was identified as Okeleve Frankline Chibundom, who was staying in south Delhi's Mehrauli area. He along with his live-in partner duped several people after approaching them on social media, they said. Chibundom's activities came to police's notice after a resident of southeast Delhi's Sarita Vihar made a complaint against the accused in February this year.

According to the complainant, on November 29 last year, one Takeshi Mochida, posing as an executive of a Tokyo-based pharmaceutical firm, contacted him through LinkedIn regarding supply of 10,000 packets of a herbal seed for medical purposes. He also recommended a supplier based in Jalpaiguri, West Bengal. When the complainant contacted the said supplier, Arti Mukharjee, she told him that the product cost Rs 2,10,000 per packet and they fixed the deal on commission basis, the police said. The complainant made payments to the tune of Rs 44,25,000 to the accused in different bank accounts but the seeds were never delivered to him. The accused also did not return his money, they said. Chibundom was identified and later arrested through technical surveillance and by tracing bank account transactions, they added.