Fraudulence in the name of 'gifts' from abroad: 3 Bangladeshis arrested

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of police last night arrested three Bangladeshis on charges of collaborating with a Nigerian ring to embezzle money from people in the name of paying duty with false information about the arrival of gifts from abroad.

The arrestees are Kayes Hossain (32), his wife Shahida Khatun (25) and Sujan Majhi (28), Special Superintendent of CID Police Rezaul Masud said at a press briefing at CID headquarters today.

They were arrested from the capital's Jatrabari and Segunbagicha areas on Saturday night, he added.

The CID official said the trio used to collect details of 'bank account holders' from different parts of Bangladesh and also open accounts under various names and provided those to the Nigerians.

The CID got 15 such accounts in the name of Kayes and 33 more accounts in other names. Rezaul said the arrestees have been involved with the Nigerian ring since 2018.

According to the deal, the account holder and the middleman would get 5 percent each of the transacted money.

The CID said the Nigerian racket members sent friend requests on Facebook to various accounts using a foreign name. When a person accepted the request on Facebook, the members of the gang started communicating with them via Messenger and WhatsApp saying that their 'foreign friend' would send them some gifts of iPhone, iPad and some dollars.

But a few days later, the victim was called by a "customs officer" and was being told that the gift sent by a foreign friend had been brought without paying the duty and asked them to pay a certain hefty amount to a bank account as duty.

The CID official said the three Bangladeshis would hand over the money to the Nigerians once the victims pay to the bank account.

By doing so, Kayes used to earn Tk 35 to 40 thousand per month. The CID found links of Kayes in several such cases.

48 cheque books, 185 signed cheques, four mobile phones and a debit card were also recovered from their possession.

The CID is investigating whether any bank or customs officials are involved in the racket at present.

At least 40 Nigerians were arrested in just one month on charges of embezzling money in the name of gifts, informed the CID official.