KATHMANDU, JULY 26

Police have arrested two females, including a teenage girl, for allegedly cheating unwary youths of cash, posing as permanent resident visa holders of the United States of America.

Those taken into police custody have been identified as Kopila Sharma, 27, and Amisa KC, 19, of Baglung district, currently residing in Rose Village Colony of Bhaktapur.

Acting on a complaint, a special team deployed by Metropolitan Police Crime Division arrested them from Butwal, Rupandehi on July 24.

Superintendent of Police Ishwor Karki, MPCD spokesperson said the duo had fled to Butwal after swindling Rs 660,000 out of two youths, collectively. According to MPCD, Sharma and KC had followed the youths via social media like Facebook and TikTok before befriending them and identifying themselves as American citizens of Nepali origin.

The duo would tell the victims that they had been living in California of America after winning a DV lottery, but were stranded in Kathmandu due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown. Sharma is the mastermind of the fraud racket.

“Sharma defrauded a man of Rs 500,000 under various excuses, promising to marry and take him to America,” read a press release issued by MPCD.

Sharma also established a friendship with a woman in Bhaktapur and managed to defraud her of Rs 160,000. SP Karki said she also befriended film actors and proposed them to serve her private interests. They have been handed over to the Metropolitan Police Circle, Thimi, Bhaktapur, for further investigation and legal action.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on July 27, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.