Hyderabad: A foreigner was arrested on Sunday by the officials of the Special Operations Team (SOT), LB Nagar Zone on charges of cheating by promising to double Indian currency. Police seized 10 lakhs of fake Indian rupees from his possession.
According to a police press release, Zon Guey Rostand alias Dauda is a citizen of the Ivory Coast. In 2021, he landed in India on a business visa and was staying at Sun City, Rajendra Nagar.
Police said Rostand continued to stay even after his visa expired in January 2022.
Rostand started luring gullible victims by giving them false hopes that he could double Indian rupees within hours.
His modus operandi was to gain the victim’s trust by hiding a real Rs 500 note in a concealed envelope and trick them into providing another genuine Rs 500 note.
He would place both notes between two white papers using iodine or chemical powders.
Rostand would proceed to dip the notes in water for cleaning only to show the two notes to his victim. This way many would get fooled.
Rostand’s fraud was exposed when one of his victims, who also registered a police complaint against him, handed him a huge sum of money demanding it be doubled.
Following the same process, Rosland presented a golden cover to the victim but asked him to open it only after five hours.
However, the victim soon realised he had been cheated.
During interrogation, it was found that Rostand had looted to the tune of Rs 25 lakhs from various people.
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Police also seized duplicate Indian currencies Rs.10 lakhs (Rs. 500 denominations), two green currency shape paper cutting bundles, five chemical bottles, a 25-litre white can containing atta, and two syringes.
A case was registered under Sections 420 (Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 406 (Punishment for criminal breach of trust), 489-A (Counterfeiting currency notes or bank notes), 489-B (Using as genuine, forged currency notes or bank notes),489-C (Possession of forged or counterfeit currency-notes or bank-notes), 489-D (Materials for forging or counterfeiting currency notes) and 489-E (Making or using documents resembling currency-notes).
Rostand was also booked under 14 of the Foreigners Act -1946 (Penalty for entry in restricted areas) by the LB Nagar police station.
