NELLORE: Martin Jones (33) of Abhijon of West Africa was arrested on Saturday on the charge of cheating N. V. Kiran Kumar, who along with his friends, was lured into buying wads of black paper, which they were told would turn into dollars.

According to Superintendent of Police K. Laxmi Reddy, Jones, Martine Rodger and John Parker are friends in Manchester of the United Kingdom. Roger used to chat with the complainant, Kumar, through the net. "The trio hatched a plan to cheat Kumar and offered him US dollars four times more than the Indian currency albeit in a different mode. They offered him black paper instead of money. Accordingly, Jones and Parker landed in Mumbai with fake passports and met the complainant in Chennai. Both the African nationals, to buttress their claim, dipped three dollar notes smeared in black into a chemical, the black colour disappeared and the green bucks appeared," the SP told reporters on Saturday.

Having believed the version of the accused, Kumar paid Rs. 12.5 lakhs to African nationals and in turn, Jones brought some black paper notes in an iron safe to Nellore on December 15. The accused stayed at a local hotel and asked the complainant to receive US dollars.

However, on suspicion, Kumar informed the whole gamut of things to the SP. The police immediately raided the hotel and arrested Jones.

They seized 42 bundles of black paper, a fake passport and a cell phone.The police were yet to nab the other two.

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