Cameroonian national detained after being caught scamming businessman by converting liras into dollars

Burcu PURTUL UÇAR – ISTANBUL

REUTERS photo

A Cameroonian national has been detained in Istanbul after being caught scamming a businessman by a “special solution” that converts Turkish Liras into dollars. 

Joko Fatsa Bilaise, 39, met a 35-year-old man from the eastern province of Van, identified only as Hazım Y., through the internet. Bilaise introduced himself as the head of the European-Asian Continents Association and said he was based in the U.S.

The two men agreed to have a business meeting together in Istanbul, which another Cameroonian citizen, Yohana Benjamin Koulagna, 35, also attended.  

The two men scammed Hazım Y., saying they had a “solution” that was able to convert liras into dollars. They converted 200 liras into dollars. 

Hazım Y., however, followed the men and saw that they had converted the dollars at an exchange office. 

The suspects later said they could convert 1 million liras into 5 million dollars with the same “special solution.”

The businessman, who had understood that the men were trying to filch money off him, said he would give them 230,000 liras. 

Hazım Y. then said he wanted to meet them again after informing the police. 

The police launched an operation to detain them, but Bilaise and Koulagna were released after they said they were innocent.  

A court demanded up to five years in prison for the two each on charges of fraud.

Koulagna was arrested as he had a record of previous crime. He testified through the voice and video informatics system SEGBIS at the Bakırköy Court, while Bilaise is still at large.   

The court also issued an arrest warrant for Bilaise.