Secretary remanded for fraud

Cape Coast, Oct. 8, GNA - A 34-year-old secretary, who allegedly defrauded five persons to the tune of 107 million cedis with the pretext of sending them to Germany, was on Friday remanded by a circuit court at Cape Coast presided over by Mr Mustapha Logoh.

Sarah Barnes, who resides both in Kumasi and Effia Kuma, suburb of Takoradi, pleaded not guilty to five counts of defrauding by false pretences and will reappear on October 15.

Prosecuting, Chief Inspector Joachim Klugah of the Abura-Dunkwa police station told the court that sometime in July this year, Sarah went to the Edumfa Prayer Camp at Abura-Dunkwa and announced that she was the managing director of Mohall Auto-Manufacturing Company based in Berlin, Germany and that she was recruiting workers for the company.

Chief Inspector Klugah alleged that Sarah stated that those who were interested in the trip were to pay 20 million cedis each and based on that some relatives of the complainants contacted them at different locations and they rushed to the prayer camp with their monies. He said the accused received the monies between July and September this year from Mr Lawrence Osei Owusu, a builder based in Kumasi, who paid 20 million cedis, Mr Debanks Clement, farmer based in Offinso in Ashanti, 1,000 Euros and Mr Boateng Yaw Sampson, shop assistant in Tema, 16 million cedis.

Chief Inspector Klugah further alleged that Mr Ebenezer Botwe, a teacher from Wassa Akropong in the Western Region, who was to travel with his wife, paid 40 million cedis, while Mr Jones Ekow Arthur a farmer based at Assin Fosu also paid 2,000 US dollars.

The prosecutor said after receiving the monies, the accused kept postponing the trip, which was originally scheduled for September, and the complainants became suspicious and reported her to the police. Chief inspector Klugah said during interrogation she alleged that she had paid all the monies into the account of her employers in Germany, through a bank in Kumasi.