Police officer runs to radio station after being duped GH¢15,800 by civilian

An officer with the Ghana Police Service is seeking the help of a local radio station to retrieve an amount of GH¢15,800 he paid to a civilian who failed to deliver a car part he ordered from him sometime in 2023.

Speaking on Sompa FM’s Sompa Nkomo programme, the officer explained that he travelled with a friend to purchase a car at Kumasi and while travelling back to Enchi, the car caught fire, destroying some parts.

Upon reaching out to the seller of the car, he denied culpability in the incident and called for a legal resolution which he (the police officer) refused and heeded to the advice of his friend to go ahead and bear the cost of the repair.

While the car was parked at a mechanic shop, the suspect who sells car parts came across it and reached out to the officer as a businessman who imports spare parts from Dubai.

Counting on the recommendation of his mechanic, the police officer said he agreed to have the supposed businessman identified as Francis Nsiah alias Akwes to help him import the burnt part of the car from Dubai.

“On April 4, he called me that he had arrived in Dubai and the converted price of the part in Ghanaian cedi was GHC14,800 with an additional charge of GH¢2,900.

“He proposed that he was receiving some payment from someone back in Ghana and so he will let me send the payment through that individual to cut down the cost of the charge.

"He sent me the person's number which I confirmed and he demanded that I add GH¢1,000 to the amount to make it GH¢15,800 to be added to his to send. I sent the money and he confirmed receipt of payment,” he stated.

He added that Nsiah promised that shipping of the part will take a period of three months to arrive in Ghana.

However, after waiting for three months, he received series of stories from Nsiah. Upon reaching out to find out the status of the shipment, he realise that he had been duped by the suspect.

The officer said he has since utilised all legal avenues including filing a formal complaint against the suspect to retrieve his money but without success.

“I made a formal complaint which led the case to be called at the Enchi Magistrate Court, the court gave an order for an itemised bill to be retrieved from MTN showing the vendor who received the payment on his behalf. The vendor was picked up and brought to Enchi but since he had only played the role of receiving and forwarding the money to him in Dubai, he was not complicit. The vendor however agreed to assist us since he had been doing business with him. He led us to his workshop around Glory Hill Hotel at Santasi Roundabout in Kumasi. His apprentice told us that he had not returned and we waited for him without success.

“I have done everything on part as a police officer without success. A friend told me that your programme could help me retrieve the money which is my I have come here,” he stated in a live phone call.

Listen to the police officer in the video below: