Goan held for posing as British woman, duping businessman

The Delhi Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) on Friday arrested a Delhi-based Goan woman, who was allegedly involved in cheating businessmen by promising them investments.

The woman, Theresa Jovita D'Souza (39), belongs to Goa, but had posed as a British citizen, police said.

Police were on the lookout for the woman and her partner after P Rahmatullah, a granite dealer in Andhra Pradesh, complained in July that a "Briton", Johnson Mallon, came to him and showed interest in becoming his business partner in India.

"D'Souza and Mallon met Rahmatullah's son in Delhi. She introduced herself as Mallon's wife, Rhea. They claimed to be British nationals. They promised to invest in the granite business," JCP (EOW) Sandeep Goel said.

"The two told Rahmatullah that they intend to invest part of their $8,00,000 (over

Rs 4 crore) stuck in the IMF, Delhi. Mallon asked Rahmatullah to pay Rs10 lakh so that he could get the IMF clearance. Accordingly, the businessman transferred Rs 9 lakh to two bank accounts given by the accused," Goel said. Rahmatullah then received emails from IMF and RBI, asking him to transfer Rs 1.2 lakh for clearance.

"These made him suspicious. He verified the emails and found them to be bogus. He approached police. A trap was set and Rahmatullah called the accused to a hotel in Paharganj," Goel said.

Only D'Souza turned up and was arrested.

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