Nigerian woman sentenced to 7 years in jail for ₹14 lakh cyber fraud in Gujarat

A court in Amreli convicted and sentenced a Nigerian national to seven years of simple imprisonment in a high-profile cyber fraud case involving a fake courier service and promises of a valuable gift from London.

The accused woman was found guilty under Section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), for which she received the maximum sentence of seven years, along with a fine. She was also convicted under Sections 467 (forgery of valuable security), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using forged document as genuine) of the IPC, and Section 66(D) of the Information Technology Act.

The case dates back to June 2023, when the complainant, Piyushbhai Thumar from Savarkundla in Amreli district, was initially contacted by the accused via Instagram. Posing as a foreign friend, she built trust before introducing the ruse of sending a "surprise gift" or valuable parcel from London.

Using emails and multiple mobile numbers linked to a fictitious courier company named ‘Skye Elite Logistics’, the accused convinced Thumar to make payments for fabricated charges, including customs duty, income tax, and currency conversion fees. 

Over time, he transferred a total of ₹14,09,000 under these pretexts but received nothing in return. The victim lodged a complaint with the Amreli Cyber Crime Police Station on July 20, 2023.

The police traced the scam through call detail records (CDR), suspect data records (SDR), Google login details, and other digital footprints, uncovering an international link. The probe revealed that the accused had obtained a Tata Play broadband connection in Gurugram, Haryana, using a fake passport.

 The Amreli cyber team arrested her in Gurugram and seized six mobile phones, one laptop, and two bogus passports from her possession. Forensic analysis by the Forensic Science Laboratory in Gandhinagar, along with corroboration from agencies such as the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), confirmed that the documents provided by the accused were forged.

The prosecution presented evidence from 11 witnesses and 142 documentary exhibits, supported by data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).