Irene Maciulis
India Two men were arrested for tricking a doctor into buying "Aladdin's magic lamp" for $ 93,000, one even pretending to be a genie.
Dr. Laeek Khan came to the police of Uttar Pradesh, northern India, after discovering that the lamp did not have any magical powers as in the fairy tale "Aladdin and the magic lamp", officer Amit Rai
Exhibits in Aladdin's magic lamp fraud in India were held by police on November 1 Photo: AFP
"The fraud reached a higher value agreement, the doctor (Khan) paid about 7 million rupees ($ 93,000)," Rai said, saying the two scammers were arrested on October 29.
Dr. Khan's complaint said one of the two men pretended to be an alchemist and caused the genie to appear, local media reported.
The two scammers then sold "Aladdin's magic lamp" to Khan and insisted that the item would bring the doctor health, wealth and luck.
"These gentlemen are also defrauding many other families in a similar way. The total amount involved in the scam is several million rupees," said officer Rai.
