African fraudsters taste Gypsy revenge

Irate at losing 59,000 euros to two Africans who had promised to magically double their investment, two Athens Gypsies tracked down the tricksters and imprisoned them in an attempt to get the money back, police said yesterday. Armand Bayim, 27, from Cameroon, and Simon Foster, 26, from Rwanda, allegedly obtained the cash in November from Nikos Karahalios, 39, and Chryssovalandis Mustafa, 25, saying they would buy special chemicals to duplicate the banknotes. When the Africans vanished with the money, a nationwide Gypsy alert was issued, and the two were located in the central Peloponnesian town of Tripolis this month. The Africans were locked up in a Gypsy house in the northwestern Athens area of Zefyri, where they were beaten and pressed for the cash. Bayim was released on Tuesday after promising to bring back the money. Instead, he contacted the police. The Africans were arrested for fraud, while the Gypsies were charged with abduction.