A Kolkata court has sentenced Nigerian national Jefferson Eze Henry to eight years in prison for orchestrating a ₹1 crore cyber fraud scheme targeting an elderly Indian man in 2021.
The conviction comes under the provisions of the Information Technology Act and the Indian Penal Code. Henry was also fined ₹50,000.
According to court findings, Henry posed as a representative of the Royal Bank of London, using fake email addresses and websites to deceive the victim, Saibal Banerjee. Investigators revealed that he employed VPN (Virtual Private Network) technology to mask his location and avoid detection while executing the scam.
The case underscores growing international concerns around cybercrime and digital fraud, particularly involving transnational actors leveraging sophisticated tools to exploit unsuspecting victims.
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.