A 41-year-old Nigerian man, Gabriel Onyeka, was arrested by Indian cybercrime authorities on May 19, 2025, in Kalyan, Maharashtra, for allegedly defrauding a businessman of 1.25 crore in a complex online scam. Onyeka, believed to be the mastermind behind an organized cyber fraud racket, was taken into custody after an investigation led to his residence.
The fraud started when Onyeka posed as a senior executive at a well-known pharmaceutical company and contacted a civil engineer from Vadodara. He offered the victim a bulk order for Plukenetia volubilis, an Ayurvedic liquid, and convinced him to buy it from a supplier he recommended. However, the supplier was a fake company operated by Onyeka himself. Unaware of the deception, the businessman purchased one liter of the product, only to be lured into further investments by Onyeka’s accomplices, who posed as quality control inspectors.
Enticed by promises of significant returns, the businessman transferred 47 lakh for additional orders and was further manipulated to send more payments. In total, the scammers deceived him out of 1.25 crore. When the fraud was uncovered, investigators traced the phone number used by Onyeka, leading them to his location in Mumbai.
During his arrest, police recovered four mobile phones from Onyeka, one of which contained a WhatsApp message confirming his involvement. Investigations revealed that Onyeka had been living illegally in India since 2012, having overstayed his medical visa after arriving in West Bengal for treatment. Despite a case being filed against him by Mumbai police in 2020 for visa violations, Onyeka continued his stay and eventually settled in Kalyan, where he resided in a 2BHK apartment on the 20th floor of a residential tower.
