Police Crack Another Notorious Crime Syndicate

A special unit of the Ghana Police Service has arrested a Ghanaian with bundles of 50 million fake US-dollar bills after bursting a major financial scam syndicate.

Assistant Superintendent James Apuri of the Police Panther Unit, told reporters that the suspect, Sylvester Amenyo, was arrested with the fake dollar bills Saturday.

Another Ghanaian, Kuma Adzraku, and two Nigerians, identified only as Ndeke and Ameka, believed to be members of the same "419" financial scam syndicate, are said are on the run.

The gang is believed to be part of larger syndicate linked to Nigeria, which has been defrauding unsuspecting victims at home and abroad.

The group has struck in Ghana on several occasions in the past with one of the deadliest being a 1.5 million- dollar fraud at the central bank where officials were deceived into believing that a draft covering the amount had been cleared.

According Apuri, the Panther Unit, acting on a tip- off, stormed an uncompleted house at East Legon and found a large trunk, two suit cases and bags containing bundles of the fake dollar bills.

The search also uncovered chemicals and rubber stamps bearing the seals of the World Bank and other organisations.

Amenyo, who was found in the house, said the items belonged to him and the other accomplices. They apparently used the items to dupe members of the public, including foreigners.

"We invite the foreigners into the country and tell them we have money we want to transfer to their respective countries for business and ask them to help us by using their account numbers," Amenyo said.

"With their account numbers in our possession we are able to withdraw genuine dollars from these accounts, which we mix with fake ones, which we put into the system," he added.

He further said that the group duped other victims by convincing them that they had papers that could be changed into dollars using chemicals.

"When they show interest we ask them to deposit specific sums of money after which we tell them that their share of the booty would be transferred into their accounts when everything had been completed. We then mix the bulk of the fake money with a few genuine ones and circulate them in the system," he added.

Apuri said the co-operation between the police and the public was beginning to yield positive results, and appealed for useful information on the criminals.