Police crack another 419 syndicate

The Panther Unit of the Police Service have cracked another notorious 419 syndicate with the arrest of a Ghanaian with bundles of fake dollar bills totaling more than 50 million dollars.

Mr James Apuri, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) of the Panther Unit, told newsmen in Accra that one Sylvester Amenyo was arrested with the fake dollar bills on Saturday. A Ghanaian, Kuma Adzraku and two Nigerians, identified only as Ndeke and Ameka, believed to be members of the 419 syndicate, are on the run. According to ASP Apuri on August 26, the Panther Unit, upon a tip-off, stormed and searched an uncompleted house at East Legon and found a large trunk, two suit cases and bags containing bundles of fake dollar bills. They also found chemicals and rubber stamps bearing the seals of the World Bank and other organisations.

Amenyo who was found in the house at the time of the raid, said the items belonged to him and the other accomplices. They used them 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. With their account numbers in our possession we are able to withdraw genuine dollars from these accounts which we mix with fake ones and put into the system." He said other people are contacted and made to part with some dollars by convincing them that they have papers that can be changed into dollars and need money to buy chemicals for that purpose.

"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. ASP Apuri said the co-operation between the Police and the public is yielding fruitful results and appealed to people not to hesitate to give information on the criminals.