An African national, who had been living in India illegally, allegedly sold kidneys online and duped people through his racket. The man allegedly used fake e-mail addresses and websites of well-known hospitals like Max Super Speciality, Apollo, Fortis, Lilavati and Manipal Hospital to cheat people. Reportedly, the accused used to sell the kidneys for Rs 4 to Rs 7 crore on his websites.

Identified as Toty Dago Gregoire, the 33-year-old man had come to India in 2007 to study Bachelors of Computer Application. He returned to Africa in 2010 but came back soon after, never to return. Reportedly, Gregoire had been living in India despite having an expired visa. 

Accused duped car dealer of Rs 14.78 lakh

A 25-year-old man identified as Arbaz Rana came in contact with the accused. A textile broker who later started selling used cars, first came in contact with Gregoire somewhere between September and October 2020. Struggling financially, Rana wanted to clear off his debts and pay for his sister’s wedding. Therefore, he took the decision of selling off one kidney, The Times of India reported. 

Gregoire reportedly offered to get a client for Rana and took Rs 14.78 lakh from him. Rana, who believed Gregoire and did not doubt his intentions, turned to the police for help when he realised he had been duped. 

Accused arrested from Bengaluru 

After being alerted, the cops laid a trap of Rs 4 crore and lured the accused into it. The cybercrime officials nabbed the accused from Bengaluru on Saturday and unearthed a series of fake email addresses and websites

The cops froze several bank accounts that had a total of Rs 7.5 lakh and seized a computer, hard disk and four mobile phones. Probe revealed that the accused had also created websites for forex trading, bitcoin investment along with fake recruitment websites. He also had four email addresses that resembled those of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) officials.