A Nigerian ex-footballer, who is a former State-level football player, and his Indian wife were arrested on Monday in India for duping people on the pretext of custom clearance for gifts sent by them, the police said on Wednesday, Times of India reports.

They have duped a social worker, the police said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Dwarka) Anto Alphonse said that the accused, identified as Ifeanyi Joachin Nwafor, who has played for three State-level teams in Chennai and Kerala, and his wife were arrested from Dabri on Monday.

The police said that the social worker, who runs an NGO, approached them and said that one George Moor, a UK-based man, had requested her to accept gifts for the poor in India.

She said she then got a call from a woman, who claimed that she was from the Customs Department and that the complainant would have to pay money to receive the gifts. The victim paid over ₹1 lakh on two occasions. She, however, got suspicious after more money was demanded.

After she approached the police, an investigation was taken up and bank account details were sought. The CCTV footage of the ATMs from where the deposited money was withdrawn were also scanned, after which the accused were arrested.

“During interrogation, it was found that Nwafor is from Nigeria. In 2009, he had come to India on a business visa. In 2012, he came in contact with the woman [his co-accused] through Facebook, who is from Assam. They later started living together in Delhi and eventually got married,” Mr. Alphonse said.

The police said that Nwafor made several fake Facebook accounts approach people through the social media. After taking them into confidence, he used to tell them about sending precious gifts for them. His wife used to pose as Customs officer and call them, they said.

The police claimed to have recovered over ₹6 lakh that they had collected by from different people by cheating them.

Mobile phones, jewellery, laptops among other articles have also been seized, the police further said.