Emmanuel Ofori Ansong is being held on a charge of defrauding by false pretense.

Ansong, who had no legal representation, pleaded not guilty before the Dansoman Circuit Court.

The court, presided over by Halima EL-Alawa Abdul-Baasit, granted Ansong bail in the sum of GH¢70,000 with three sureties, one to be justified.

Two of the sureties are required to be public servants earning GH¢2,000.

According to the court, the accused was also required to deposit a copy of his Ghana Card with the court’s registry.

The matter was adjourned to May 6, for the prosecution to file witness statements and disclosures.

The prosecution, led by Chief Inspector Christopher Wonder and Inspector Esther Mensah, opposed the grant of bail to the accused.

They argued that the accused might not appear in court when granted bail and could compromise police investigations in another matter concerning him.

According to the prosecution, its submission was not meant to prejudice the court’s mind but to present the “facts.”

The prosecution submitted that the complainant, Benjamin Otchere Amo, is a farmer from Wenchi in the Brong Ahafo Region, while the accused, Ansong, 33, is an unemployed person living in a family house in Bubuashie.

The prosecution stated that in November 2023, there were rumors of some Youth Employment Agency personnel being recruited into the Ghana Police Service.

The court heard that the complainant was introduced to Ansong as a National Youth Employment Agency (YEA) personnel who could assist him with recruitment.

The court was told that the accused contacted the complainant and, following their engagement, demanded money to start the process, to which the complainant gave GH¢1,000 each for himself and his elder brother as requested by the accused.

The prosecution said Ansong demanded more money under the pretext of creating new Y.E.A numbers and buying forms for the complainant and his brother, all of which were untrue, but they paid.

When Ansong realized the complainant could pay any amount he requested, he began making numerous demands for varying sums of money for his personal use.

According to the prosecution, Ansong informed the complainant that his brother was qualified for the Senior Police Officer position and requested a payment of GH¢10,000 if interested. The complainant subsequently made payments to the accused’s MTN cellphone number, 0545411049.

After some weeks, Ansong called the complainant again and told him that his brother should submit his HND certificate for the Senior Officer Rank, which he did not have.

The court heard that Ansong told the complainant that he could assist him in obtaining one from Pentecost University for GH¢10,000, which the complainant paid in installments through mobile money vendors to the accused’s number.

Ansong continued to make demands for various sums of money in the name of “settling” his directors to expedite the process.

As a result, Ansong took GH¢65,739 from the complainant and his brother under the guise of assisting them in getting recruited into the Ghana Police Service.

The prosecution said the complainant realized after some time that he was being scammed when he saw no results.

The prosecution said on April 3, 2024, the complainant went to Ansong’s house, but upon seeing him, the accused jumped a wall and fled.

The prosecution said the complainant then reported the issue to the Korle-Bu Police, and on April 22, 2024, Ansong returned to the neighbourhood and was arrested by some good Samaritans and handed over to the police.

Ansong, in his investigation caution statement, admitted to the offence.

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Information gathered by Kasapa News, indicates that the said Assembly Member demanded an amount of GH¢8,800-part payment as a processing fee of the total amount (GH¢18,000) from one of the victims.

In an interview, Nana Abbiw, who is said to have been defrauded noted that “Mr Dankwa in an oral agreement emphasized that, he will refund any amount paid if the attempt made facilitate the recruitment for his son into the security service fails”.

According to him, all attempts made to get the suspect to refund his money proved futile hence, lodging an official complaint to the Ajumako Police Command leading to the arrest of Hon. Joseph Dankwa.

Reports have it that, the Assemblyman has been allegedly blackmailing and attempting to extort money from job seekers.

Mr Joseph Dankwa who is in the custody of the police will be facing court after investigations.

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The court said one of the sureties should be a public servant earning not less than GH¢3,000 a month.

The court will take the plea of Bismark Adu Odame, a 31-year-old miner, Yeboah’s accomplice, accused of defrauding by false pretences.

The court presided over by Mrs. Kizita Naa Koowa Quarshie and adjourned the case to November 8, 2022.

Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Fuseini Yakubu told the court that the complainant was Nana Ekow Freeman, a media consultant residing at Komenda in the Central Region, while Odame, resided at Akwatia in the Eastern Region with Yeboah also a resident of Akim-Oda in the Eastern Region.

The prosecution said in March 2021, the complainant received a phone call from Odame through a Vodafone number, and introduced himself as Commissioner of Police, Mr. Alex George Mensah, from the National Police Headquarters Accra.

It said Odame allegedly informed the complainant that he had been assigned to help NPP members to be recruited into the Ghana Police Service and asked him to submit names of party members and their contacts to him.

The prosecution said Odame asked the complainant to task each prospective applicant to pay cash in the sum of GH¢3,000.00 for documentation and other processing fees.

It said the complainant submitted names of 47 people to Odame with payment of GH¢ 3,000.00 each to the mobile money numbers given to him by the accused with their respective mobile money accounts.

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The prosecution said after the accused had collected the monies, he allegedly told the complainant that he wanted to meet all the 47 people in Accra and, therefore, agreed on a date for the meeting.

It said on the agreed date for the meeting, the complainant assembled all the prospective applicants at Kasoa to be transported to the accused in Accra, but all calls placed to Odame’s known contact numbers could not go through.

The prosecution said all his contacts known to the complainant could not be reached anymore.

The complainant petitioned the Director-General of CID for assistance.

The prosecution said mobile money statements of the two mobile money numbers were obtained from MTN Ghana Limited per court order and upon analysis, it was confirmed that the complainant sent GH¢79,000.00 to the numbers.

Investigations led to the arrest of Odame at Akwatia in the Eastern Region on June 24, 2022, with investigations on the phone numbers used to receive the payments from the complainant leading to the arrest of Yeboah at Akim-Oda.

Yeboah stated in his caution statement to the police that the two SIM cards used to receive funds from the complainant were given to him by Odame to be receiving funds from his business partners for him.

He added that any time he received money on the said mobile money numbers, he withdrew it from mobile money merchants for Odame.

Yeboah allegedly said Odame gave him 10 percent of any amount he withdrew for him.

The suspect was arrested at Zongo Junction in Accra on Monday, September 27, 2021.

This follows the arrest of three persons over the same offence.

Police sources indicate investigations so far have revealed the suspect is also the mastermind behind a Facebook account created in the name of the Regional Commander, DCOP Edward Oduro Kwateng.

“It will be recalled that on 14 September 2021, three persons were arrested for a fraudulent Facebook publication purported to have been created by the Volta Regional Police Commander, DCOP Mr Edward Oduro Kwateng, advertising to assist potential applicants to be enlisted into the Ghana Police Service,” part of a statement, signed by the Regional Public Relations Officer, DSP Efia Tengey, read.

The statement added the suspect admitted to conspiring with others to swindle unsuspecting victims of their money under the pretext of allocating protocol slots in the ongoing police service recruitment drive.

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The suspect is expected to be put before the Ho Circuit Court later today, Thursday, September 30, 2021.