A 52-year-old Iranian national, Fatemah Akbari, was arrested by the police at the Indira Gandhi International Airport for duping a US citizen of $700, officials said on Thursday.
The cops mentioned that the accused, along with her husband and son, allegedly targeted the victim by initiating a conversation and asking him to show Indian currency to their child.
The incident came to light when the victim, a 70-year-old US citizen, originally from Punjab, was approached by the couple at the airport asking him to show Indian currency to their child, the complaint read.
Later, they requested to see his US dollars, and the victim handed over nine $100 notes. The couple then appeared to return the notes but had swapped seven $100 notes with five Rs 500 Indian currency notes in the middle of the bundle.
With this information, a team conducted a thorough investigation and analyzed CCTV footage to track down the accused.
Amid the inquiry, the vehicle used in the crime was traced to a Renault Triber car. After further investigation, the accused was identified and apprehended from a guest house in Saket, Delhi.
During sustained interrogation, she confessed to her involvement in the crime and disclosed that due to financial difficulties and to earn money swiftly, her husband, Mojtaba Zolfaghari, teamed up with other Iranians to target and cheat foreign nationals after interaction on various pretexts.
In her confession, she further mentioned that they mainly operated in areas like Lajpat Nagar, Connaught Place, Khan Market, and the airport.
On the intervening night of Friday and Saturday, she, along with her husband and son, cheated an elderly man at the airport by tricking him to show money to the son and cheated $700 from the victim.
Further, she admitted to her role in the incident and disclosed that her husband was also previously involved in other similar cheating and theft cases registered at multiple police stations in Delhi and NCR.
Usha Rangnani, Additional Commissioner of Police, said, “Mijtaba Zolfaghari, husband of the accused, is still at large, our team is working to track him down.”
“The police also suspect that the couple may have been involved in similar scams in the past, with cases registered against them at various police stations in Delhi and Gurugram,” the senior officer mentioned.