Alleged ?270m Fraud

A PROMINENT elder of the Church of Pentecost (COP) and managing director of the estate developers, Osiadan Company Ltd., Nana Abora Agyei, was yesterday nabbed by the Police Striking Force for defrauding a fellow church member to the tune of ?22,500 or ?270million at the current rate.

Nana Abora Agyei whose victim is Ms Elizabeth Agyei, a Ghanaian born British Prisons officer , will soon be arraigned before court, the deputy supt. of police in charge of the Striking Force, Kwadwo Antwi-Tabi has said.

Meanwhile, the Osiadan MD has been granted police enquiry bail.

Narrating her story at the Striking Force station, Accra Central, yesterday, Ms Agyei said she and Nana Abora had grown together as Christian friends long before she went to pursue further studies in England in the early 1990s in 1994, Abora approached her as an estate developer with the promise to build for her a nine-bedroom house in Accra for $55,000 within three years.

When she reminded him that the pound sterling was the British currency, Abora with lightning speed calculated the equivalent on his wrist watch computer to be ?35,000 or ?427million.

He offered to complete the building, if the woman would pay some ?20,000 and add the difference later.

After he had whipped up her interest with a picture of a prototype of the building, she paid the first instalment of ?5,000 into his London account, the prisons officer said.

"When he returned to Ghana, Abora said, he would mail to me papers covering the contract to sign."

That was the beginning of a chain of tricks. But trusting Abora as her faithful Christian brother, Ms Agyei said, he continued to mail monies to him in Accra all in respect of which he returned receipts.

"Even after I had paid as much as ?20,000, he came to London one day to hustle me for ?3,500, saying he had issued some cheques in purchase of some items and needed money desperately in his account."

She said she could not deliver but paid ?2,500 making all the instalments ?22,500.

The years piled on; she did not hear from Abora or receive even a picture of the supposed building.

The police commander said when he invited Nana Abora and had not revealed to him that Ms Agyei had flown home and reported the case in person, Abora denied flatly ever receiving a penny from the woman.

He, in fact, claimed that he paid Ms. Agyei's transit to London and helped her in diverse ways, feigning upset by her "ingratitude."

Then DSP Tabi threw open an adjoining door; entered Ms Agyei and Osiadan was mute!

He soon admitted taking ?17,500 from her and declined repeating that he had supported her in the past.

Asked to show where the building was, Abora is said to have answered that it was still under construction as "it takes eight, ten or even more years to build."

Mr. Tabi said witnesses were being called to facilitate the prosecution of Abora.

Meanwhile he warned sojourners and others who send money home for development to choose their agents with extreme caution.

As he disclosed, hardly does a week pass without his outfit getting a report similar to the one on the fate of Ms Elizabeth Agyei.

At the time of going to press, frantic efforts were reported underway by some leaders of the of the cap to free the Osiadan man.

"He carries many a pastor and his colleague church leaders in his pocket like his own purse" came an insider's comment.