Ghana fraud ruins woman's reputation

A Bermudan tour organiser has been left $87,000 out of pocket after a Ghanian business partner - Joseph Ankumah Jnr - took her money and left her party of 20 stranded in London, leaving her to pick up the tab.

Gloria-Jean Trott said the experience has left her socially isolated with many blaming her for the debacle, despite her repaying their money.

Bermuda Police have confirmed she was the victim of a con but she said her insurers refused to pay out on the travel policy because the tour had begun but was abandoned.

Miss Trott, a Christian, who also sends supplies and who still sponsors three African children with school fees, had planned to buy a house and live in Ghana and set up a tourist business link to Bermuda Link.

Now she says she probably won't ever go back to Africa because of her experience.

The shambles happened a year ago but with no solution or refund she has decided to go public, and is hoping that delegates to the African Diaspora Heritage Trail Conference being held in Bermuda this week will help her to get justice.

Miss Trott, who has organised around eight tours since 1995 involving more than 200 people, said she had arranged a tour group of 20 to go to Ghana in July 2007 with the same agent she always used.

But this time it fell apart when organisation shifted to the son of the owner of Black Beauty Tours, rather than Joseph Ankumah Snr. who had been trustworth.

In December 2006 Miss Trott agreed with Joseph Ankumah Jnr to provide a tour and humanitarian visit to Ghana, from July 20 to August 5, 2007.

The group were also looking forward to celebrations of Ghana's 50th Anniversary of Independence from Britain.

Black Beauty Tours were to fly the party from Bermuda to London and then on to Accra in Ghana and back.

In January 2007, Miss Trott wired money and got receipts. By May 4 all the airfare money had been sent.

"Mr. Ankumah informed me that we would receive the air tickets within the week. This never happened. The balance of money in the account, I sent to him was to be applied toward the hotel accommodation. He never paid this either."

This was despite Mr. Ankumah writing a letter to the Consular of the Ghana High Commission, in Washington DC, stating the purpose of the visit and claiming all accommodation and meals had been fully arranged, said Miss Trott.

When she pestered Mr. Ankumah Jnr for the tickets and hotel confirmation numbers he gave various excuses.

"He said: 'I'm working on it' 'I'll get back to you' or 'They have been sent and can be collected from the British Airways Office in Bermuda'. None of that was true."

She said by June 2007, Black Beauty Tours had received a total of $50,800 toward the tour with an outstanding balance of $28, 438.00 owing to the company.

The amount was held in a special account to be paid upon the completion of the tour. It was kept as a security to ensure that the trip was satisfactory.

Two days before the party was to leave Bermuda she was told by British Airways in Bermuda that the ticket money had been refunded to the agent a month earlier.

"I called and told him he needs to pay for these tickets immediately."

He told her to pay the Bermuda/London/Bermuda legs and he said he would pay the other half of the flights.

"He then asked me to use the money I owed for the balance of the tour.

"I also told him that the group should not have to pay twice for the airline tickets as we had already paid $ 36,000.

"I went ahead as per his instructions and paid a total of $29,102.92 for the Bermuda/London return portion of the flight. It was my understanding that the money would be returned or applied to the hotel balance. I trusted this man to be truthful and honest."

Before the party boarded the flight, Mr. Ankumah Jnr. assured her that he would have someone meet the party at Gatwick Airport and travel with them to Accra on July 22.

The group arrived in London 7/21/07. No one from Black Beauty Tours was at the Airport and no one ever showed up with the tickets.

"We were left stranded. I had with me Government workers, schoolteachers, union workers, bankers, hospital workers, elderly people and teenagers.

"Black Beauty had taken our money and left us stranded in a foreign country.

"I had to pay for the accommodation of 20 people including myself. I secured a hotel at the Thistle Gatwick Hotel for the night, with the hope that Black Beauty Tours Ltd, would honour his contract with us. He did not."

Some of the group returned to Bermuda on July 22 while the rest had to stay in the Hotel until seats became available on British Airways to Bermuda. It took five days to get everyone home.

"The hotel tickets had to paid by either myself or the group. This now meant that the group was not only paying twice for airline tickets, but paid twice for hotels in Accra and the United Kingdom."

Miss Trott said efforts to get Mr. Ankumah Jnr to return the money have failed. "To this date I have not received one cent from this company. I have tried to get this resolved with people all over the world."

She said she had sought assistance from Premier and Tourism Minister Ewart Brown but said she was not helped.

And she contacted other authorities including the British Embassy who recommended a lawyer who pursued the case in Ghana.

"I have been asked to travel to Ghana to testify against this company, but I am afraid for my life. I have been given no assurance of my safety. No one wants to come with me as they have their money."

When angry travellers made claims against her in court she decided to pay them as she felt responsible, even though her lawyer advised against it.

"I have been humiliated by some of the travelling group who accused me and reported me to the Police as a part of a scam with this company. I have been derided in court by some of the group.

"I personally repaid everyone their money, although I was advised by a lawyer not to do so.

"It has impacted my integrity as a Christian. I don't associate with people too much anymore. It has affected me socially and my trust in people is almost at nothing.

"Financially I am in a hole."

Efforts by The Royal Gazette to contact Mr. Ankumah Jnr have not proved successful.

Detective Sergeant David Geraghty of the Fraud Unit said: "The Bermuda Police Service can confirm that in August 2007, a complaint was received by the Fraud Unit in relation to a proposed trip by a group of local residents to Ghana, Africa.

"Subsequent enquires conducted by this office exonerated the local organiser of the trip of any criminal wrongdoing.

"It appears that the overseas company; 'Black Beauty Tours' is fraudulent and a complaint has been made to the African law-enforcement agencies."

A similar but completely separate complaint was made to Police toward the end of 2007 in relation to another Ghanian travel business.

Again, the local parties involved lost all of their money, said Det. Sgt. Geraghty.

He said it was often difficult to identify internet and web-site based scams but there are a few basic 'rules of thumb' which should make any customer suspicious.

Tell-tale signs of a possible fraudster

The most obvious red flag is when a company uses free e-mail accounts such as 'hotmail', 'Yahoo' and 'g-mail'.

Reputable companies seldom use these accounts as they contain sponsored advertisements and have limited storage capacity.

Fraudsters will often use these accounts as it is impossible to trace the identity of the account holder.

Also, be wary of parting with money that cannot be traced. Money orders, Western Union transfers and banker's drafts can all be cashed by the receiving party with little or no trace of where that money went.

When arranging a vacation or trip use travel agencies recognised by agencies such as the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) in the UK and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) in the States.

If you have doubt about the authenticity of a travel agent or any prospective investment call the Fraud Unit on 299 8040.