The Hindu : Karnataka News : Ghanaian held on cheating charge

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Wednesday, May 18, 2011
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Karnataka

Karnataka

Ghanaian held on cheating charge

Staff Correspondent

Police on the lookout for associate

Visa, passport and some black paper strips seized from the arrested man
Mumbai police, Ghanaian Embassy have been informed about another suspect

Chitradurga: The Chitradurga police recently arrested Kennedy E. Chukwu (37), a native of Kumasi in Ghana, on the charge of cheating.

Following a complaint lodged by Pradeep, a resident of Hosadurga, the police on May 11 conducted a raid on a lodge there and arrested Chukwu.

Documents seized

The police seized his visa, passport and wads of black paper strips.

According to the police, the arrested man was cheating people by telling them that the black paper strips he had could be transformed into U.S. dollars by applying a chemical.

Addressing presspersons here on Tuesday, Superintendent of Police M.N. Nagaraj said, “We have seized 39 wads containing 300 paper strips each. We are searching for the chemical that Chukwu claims to be using to transform them into dollars.” According to Mr. Pradeep, two foreigners approached him on April 24 at his sheep farm and convinced him to invest in a joint business venture.

Trap

“Meanwhile, the two foreigners, one of them identified as William who is still to be traced by the police, told Mr. Pradeep that they had kept some material in Mumbai, which could be converted into U.S. dollars by applying a paritcular chemical, and they needed money to buy the chemical. Once they brought that material here and converted them into dollars, they would not only set up the business here but also pay money to Mr. Pradeep,” Mr. Nagaraj said.

Confirming the details, Mr. Pradeep, who was present at the press conference, said that a week later, William contacted him on the phone saying he would be sending Chukwu to collect Rs. 58,000, as he had to arrange for Rs. 3 lakh more for buying the chemical.

Suspicion

Mr. Pradeep became suspicious and informed the police.

Mr. Nagaraj said that a police team went to Mumbai to catch William, but could not trace him.

They informed the Mumbai police as well as the Embassy of Ghana.

He appealed to the people to be cautious about such inducements.

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