Ferdinand Abodakpi, a staff of the Parliamentary Service and junior brother of the jailed National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Keta, Dan Abodakpi, has been arrested by the Sakumono Police for his alleged involvement in visa fraud. Abodakpi was arrested on Monday, August 27, 2007 for using his jailed brother’s flat at the Sakumono Estate to allegedly assist one Samuel Osei Boateng to defraud six people to the tune of about ¢150 million.
According to the victims, Osei Boateng won their confidence when he told them he was the bodyguard of the Defence Minister, Albert Kan Dapaah, and could therefore get them visa through protocol.This was after the suspected fraudster allegedly told them that the New Patriotic Party (NPP), through its General Secretary, Nana Ohene Ntow, was recruiting persons to various destinations in Europe and America to be registered as voters under the Representation of the People’s Amendment Law (ROPAL), for the 2008 general elections.
Daily Guide gathered that after several days of evading the police, junior Abodakpi was finally arrested on the morning of August 27 for questioning on his alleged involvement in the visa fraud case. Osei Boateng, the principal character who was granted bail on the same day of his arrest, has since jumped bail. Abodakpi is on self recognizance bail after Hon. Doe Adjaho, Deputy Minority Leader and MP for Ave-Avenor Constituency accompanied the suspect to the Sakumono Police Station. In the course of Daily Guide’s investigations, junior Abodakpi explained his side of the story and denied his involvement in the case.
He however admitted that Osei Boateng was his co-occupant in his jailed brother’s flat at Sakumono for a period of one month. He explained that Boateng approached him about a month ago with a plea to allow him to stay temporarily with him in his brother’s flat because he had been ejected from his home. Abodakpi contended that he gave in to Boateng’s request because his wife and children were not staying with him.According to him, somewhere in August this year, he met Boateng with six young men in his flat, and upon enquires, he was informed by the men that Osei Boateng was helping them to acquire visas to travel abroad.
He said he provided them with paper and pen and asked them to write down their names, phone numbers and the various foreign countries they were interested in travelling to. He continued that, as a ploy to get them out of his brother’s flat, he assured them that Boateng would get back to them in due course. He alleged that it wasn’t until his co-occupant had unexpectedly vacated the place that he discovered that he was entangled in a visa deal. Mr Abodakpi also admitted during the interview that he still had in his possession, one of Boateng’s numerous cell phones, and explained that it was brought to him by a lady who said Boateng had given it to her for charging.
Interestingly, even after the prime suspect had allegedly absconded without his knowledge, Abodakpi later took the names and phone numbers of the victims when they called on him, and promised to help them arrest Osei Boateng. Abodakpi proceeded to playback to Daily Guide, a cell phone recorded complaint by a lady who was purported to have been duped by Osei Boateng to the tune of ¢20 million. Some of the victims, Samuel Nkrumah Sarpong, Patrick Sakyi, George Appiah and Kofi Agyapong, narrating their story, stated that Osei Boateng won their confidence after he impersonated the Defence Minister’s bodyguard. According to them, an uncle of one of them who happened to be the NPP polling station chairman at Effiduase-Asokore, informed them about Boateng’s NPP-ROPAL connections, which led them to pay various sums of money to him at the MP’s flat at Sakumono totaling ¢150 million.
He maintained that on August 17, the alleged fraudster invited them to Accra to have a meeting with Nana Ohene Ntow, who was to brief them on their intended trip, and possibly meet his boss, Hon. Kan Dapaah. But after waiting at the Parliament House rendezvous the whole day without Boateng showing up, the victims, upon the advice of people nearby, reported the matter to the police at Tesano. They said while at Tesano, they spotted Boateng attempting to purchase a car and alerted the police who arrested him.
After Boateng was arrested, one Detective Corporal Peter Danso of the Sakumono Police Station was tasked to arrange for the transfer of the suspect to Sakumono, but before he could do so, the Tesano police had granted him bail, after which he absconded. When contacted, sources at Sakumono Police Station confirmed the story and noted that it was the Tesano Police who handled the bail. According to the sources, when the Sakumono Police requested for the release of Boateng to them, a day after he had been arrested, the Tesano Police refused, only to tell the Sakumono Police three days later that the suspect had been granted bail but could not be traced.
