Woman in car fraud syndicate arrested

A woman is in the custody of the Odorkor Police for her alleged involvement in a car fraud.

Felicia Okobea, alias Serwaa, 44, is said to have been on the wanted list of the police for about a year.

According to the police, Okobea posed as the wife of the leader of the car fraud syndicate that allegedly duped prospective car buyers.

The suspected leader, Nana Adjei, alias Burger or Nana Poku, and another accomplice, identified only as Prince, are currently at large.

Two other accomplices — Richard Osei Bonsu, 41, trader, and Kwabena Boakye, 40, a painter — who posed as car dealers were arrested on May 16, 2014.

More victims

The Odorkor District Police Commander, Superintendent of Police Mr Abraham Acquaye, told the Daily Graphic that so far six different cases had been reported against the suspects, with their victims losing a total of GH¢110,000.

He said a prospective car buyer, Abraham Lamptey, and his wife reported to the police that on March 18, 2014, Bonsu led them to inspect a used Sprinter van at Dome after they had expressed interest in buying the vehicle.

Mr Acquaye said Bonsu had informed the prospective car buyers that the garage was for Adjei and after agreeing on the price in a telephone bargain, Adjei directed them to pay the money to his wife, who was supposedly on admission at the Amasaman Hospital.

According to the Odorkor Police Commander, the victims, in the company of Bonsu, went to the hospital, where Okobea emerged from one of the wards and introduced herself as Adjei’s wife and took GH¢30,000 from Lamptey and his wife.

After handing over the money, Bonsu asked the prospective car buyers to accompany him to his house for the documents covering the Sprinter van.

“However, Bonsu took them to a house at Dome and asked them to wait for him, but vanished. He was arrested at Dome upon a tip off,” Mr Acquaye said.

Arrested while duping another victim

Mr Acquaye said on July 18, 2014, the police had information that Okobea and Adjei were about to dupe another victim at Weija.

With the assistance of the Weija Police, operatives in plain-clothes laid ambush and arrested Okobea when she received money from the prospective buyer.

Upon interrogation, Okobea told the police that she had been in the business with Adjei for some time now and that he usually observed the transaction in a car with tinted glasses from a distance.

After every transaction, Adjei is said to take the lion’s share of the money.

The Odorkor Police Commander said five other victims claimed the same modus operandi had been used by the suspects to dupe them.