A student appears before court for fraud

Moses Osei, a student of Action Remedial School in Accra who allegedly conspired with three others to defraud an American citizen, Mary Libby Web Foster of 325,115.35 dollars on Monday appeared before an Accra Circuit Court.

Osei pleaded not guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit crime and falsely obtaining electronic payment and was granted GH¢500,000 bail with four sureties, one to be justified. The case has been adjourned to Thursday, April 19.

The court ordered Osei to report to the Police every Monday.

The three accomplices on the run are Michael Asare, Morrison Owusu and Edem Smith.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Aidan Derry, prosecuting told the court that the complainant Ms Foster is an American resident in the United States while Osei is a Ghanaian student who resides at Alajo, an Accra suburb.

He said on January 2011, the accused contacted the complainant on dating website called Love and Seek Christian website and proposed to marry the complainant.

The prosecutor said the accused introduced himself as a 56-year-old Australian resident at 122 Washington Street No.1 Jefferson, Georgia in the USA.

DSP Derry said the accused told the complainant that he lost his parents and wife through a car crash in Australia and only his son managed to survive.

He said the accused told the complainant he was an engineer and a contractor and had won a contract to build a complex in Accra and would travel to Ghana soon.

The prosecutor said later, Osei informed the complainant of his successful journey to Accra and managed to convince her that he (Osei) had met a 16-year-old Liberian girl called Sarah at an orphanage in Accra and wanted to adopt her.

DSP Derry said the accused asked the complainant to remit 30,000 dollars to him because he had invested all his money into the contract and promised to pay back everything to the complainant upon his (Osei’s) return to the United States.

He said the accused informed the complainant that Sarah’s parents who were both deceased left her an inheritance of 100 kilogrammes of gold dust at a security company called Gold Coast Securities.

The prosecutor said the accused convinced the complainant to send him some money to pay for the necessary documents to be able to transfer the ownership of the gold into her name in the United States.

DSP Derry said to convince the complainant, Osei introduced Asare as a lawyer, Owusu as a shipping agent and Edem as the caretaker of the gold.

He said the accused persons convinced the complainant to transfer various sums of money totalling 325,111.35 dollars to them.

The prosecutor said after parting with the money, the accused persons made further demands but the complainant was in financial crises.

DSP Derry said the complainant then discussed the issue with other persons, where she was told that it was a scam being perpetrated on her. She then contacted the American Embassy in Ghana and a report was made leading to the arrest of Osei.

He said efforts made to trace and arrest the other accused persons failed as Osei refused to show the Police their whereabouts.

The prosecutor said Osei in his caution statement admitted collecting 17,000 dollars from the complainant, but investigations revealed that the accused persons connived to defraud the complainant.**