A Nigerian national, Jefferson Eze Henry has been sentenced to eight years in prison by a Kolkata court for defrauding an elderly man of Rs 1 crore in 2021 through a cybercrime scheme.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on Henry following his conviction under the Information Technology Act and the Indian Penal Code.
Henry was found guilty of posing as an official from the Royal Bank of London to deceive the victim, Saibal Banerjee, through fake email IDs and websites. Investigations revealed that he used virtual private network (VPN) technology to conceal his identity while conducting the fraud.
The case began in 2021 when Banerjee reported the fraud to Kolkata Police after realizing he had been duped.
A year-long investigation led to Henry’s arrest in 2022 in Mumbai. Following his apprehension, he was presented before the trial court at Buchar Bhawan in Kolkata.
During the trial, Special Public Prosecutor Anirban Guhathakurata led the prosecution and presented evidence collected by the police. Henry later pleaded guilty midway through the trial, leading to his conviction.
The sentencing concludes a multi-agency investigation into the cybercrime, highlighting the increasing use of advanced technology in financial fraud cases.
