Police apprehend gold fraud syndicate

The Accra Regional Police Command has apprehended four members of a gang that defraud their victims by claiming they have gold to sell.

The four, Mark Kojo Conry, 42, Richard Obeng Osei, 38, Kofi Amehoun, 34, and Aikins Ameho, 40, were arrested by the Command upon intelligence from the national headquarters.

Narrating how the suspects were arrested on Monday, August 15, Regional Commander ACP Timothy Yoosa Bonga said the suspects were introduced to the victim through a friend in Dubai. Introduced as small scale miners, the suspects on June 28 gave the victim a metallic safety box containing ‘gold nuggets’ having received $325,000 as payment.

After testing the ‘nuggets’ at Iteltec Investment Ltd at East Legon, the exchange was completed. But the suspects asked the victim to open the box after the money had been deposited in a bank.

After efforts to reach the suspects after they left proved futile, the victim opened the box only to realise it contained 13 coated metals not gold. He returned to Dubai but was later called by the same persons with a different telephone number. They claimed they had gold to sell.

He immediately gave the police a tip-off. He, however, pretended he was interested in the deal. After the deal was agreed at $400,000, the testing was scheduled to be carried out at Iteltec Investment Ltd, where the police swooped on the suspects.

Aikins Ameho, a computer technician, took to his heels but was arrested after a hot chase. Upon arrest, the police retrieved a similar safety box which was used in duping the victim and two yellowish metallic substances which one suspect claims to be genuine gold.

A further search on their mobile phones in the presence of the suspects revealed pictures they had sent to the victim and other unsuspecting victims some of whom they had succeeded in duping. Upon interrogation, the three suspects admitted that the pictures had been forged to defraud innocent people especially on the internet.

ACP Yoosa Bonga advised the public to be wary of such business engagements especially those on the internet that promise top-of-the-moon returns.