Mortgage Fraud! …UT Bank, UBA, NEM Insurance Ghana Fingered

In Pursuant to Frank Rivers Moreen Bureau’s provision of Business Integrity Support (BIS) for the investor community and public education about the modus operandi of West Africa Advance Fee Fraud(WAAFF) and organized economic crime syndicate, ‘FRM Bureau’ conducted a broad investigation into a typical case study of WAAFF activity termed “MORTGAGE LOAN FRAUD and FORECLOSURE RESCUE SCAM”.

Investigations undertaken by ace private investigative Journalist (name withheld for now) indicate that United Bank For Africa (UBA), UT Bank and NEM Insurance Ghana have allegedly indulged in fraud in covert and overt manner. A distressed and frustrated victim of WAAFF was declined credit by his own bank and got duped by a sophisticated investor in connivance with the above banks and insurance company officials from NEM Insurance Ghana.

The purpose of the loan was to pay custom tariffs on 250kg of alluvial gold held by CEPS officials at Aflao in the Volta Region of Ghana. Mr. Jacob Osei Yeboah consented to engage in a phantom trade (black Market) and in the process was defrauded by the marketers, and a pawnbroker/ grantee who turned-out to be a sophisticated investor in a mortgage loan application of USD$ 250,000.00 with support from UBA, UT Bank, and NEM Insurance Ghana.

According to the Investigator, he was commissioned by FRM-bureau to go undercover to investigate an alleged mortgage fraud perpetuated by four stakeholders, UT-BANK, UBA, NEM Insurance Ghana and a Nigerian business man resident here in Ghana. He said at the beginning of the investigation, Mr. Osei Yeboah, a business man and independent presidential candidate during the 2008 general elections who appeared as the complainant in the investigation, stated that he approached his bank manager, Mr. Andrew Adomako of UBA to assist him access a loan facility at the bank to enable him pursue his gold business. However, Mr. Andrew Adomako, who was unable to assist him, rather suggested to him a business friend of his, who would be interested in that line of business. Mr. Yeboah continued that he was subsequently introduced to one Mr. Olesine Gbenga, a Nigerian business man resident in Ghana. Mr. Yeboah said Gbenga revealed to him his links with UT-BANK and his facility with the bank and that he Yeboah could put in a collateral on his behalf to enable he Gbenga access his facility; an amount of $250 dollars for Yeboah. Mr. Yeboah alleges that during the process of the documentation, he realized that UT-BANK and Mr. Olesini Gbenga have made a U-TURN. In other words, UT-BANK had credited Gbenga’s account with the amount requested but Mr. Gbenga had issued a fake cheque to him to go and cash it.

At UBA, Mr. Andrew Adomako, a branch manager of the bank answered confirmatory during an interview that his relationship with Mr. Yeboah is a cordial one and was ready to assist Yeboah pursue any business agenda. However, he could not assist Yeboah at the time of his request, adding, this was due to the bank’s financial policy toward Gold business. Mr. Adomako continued that he later introduced Mr. Gbenga to Yeboah because Mr. Gbenga had earlier expressed interest in that line of business.

Mr. Adomako expressed his regret upon hearing that the business between Yeboah and Gbenga had ended in a stalemate but concluded that he could not be held responsible for that.

“UT-BANK officials who answered questions at my cross-over to the bank were, Rosemary Sahnoon, Head of Legal and Mr. Hope Agboforo who took turns to answerer questions based on what they describe as facilitation of documents because UT-BANK works within 48hrs; therefore, any document prepared by UT-bank was done with the consent of the two interested parties,” the investigator disclosed. According to this investigator, officials at UT-BANK revealed that it was after the bank had completed the documentation process before Mr. Yeboah protested that he was no longer interested in pursuing the loan, and that, he needed the document covering his collateral. Meanwhile, UT-BANK, according to FRM reports, had concluded that they had done no wrong to assist the two interested parties to access a loan facility belonging to one of the interested parties; (Mr. Gbenga). However, UT-BANK officials were quick to interpret the motive of Mr. Gbenga as an attempt to play pranks on his business counterpart. In an exclusive interview with Mr. Gbenga by this investigator, his response to the allegation of an attempt to defraud his business counterpart was negative. He refuted the allegation out- rightly saying, he and Mr. Yeboah had entered into a joint venture agreement so he could not be held responsible for any misgivings by Yeboah.

Gbenga alleges that it’s rather Yeboah who owes him an amount of $5000. Mr.Gbenga went further to state that he had given Mr. Yeboah an amount of GH?150,000 (Hundred and Fifty thousand cedis) shortly after the process of documentation at UT-BANK. “However, the cheque could not go through” he says. Strangely, Mr. Gbenga could not explain further what went wrong with the cheque he issued to Mr. Yeboah.

Based on the above presentations made by the parties involved in this hollow business, FRM Bureau says:

A. loan applicant defrauded of his property in application of loan B. Mr. Jacob Osei Yeboah was misled by UBA bank manger C. Jacob Osei Yeboah was misled and defrauded at the beginning of the transaction of a dud cheque with face value of GH?150, 000.00 D. UBA manager, UT Bank officials knew the risks, terms, and conditions and the threat the transaction posed to their organizations and national security. E. FRM detected “collateral theft” and “foreclosure rescue scam” targeting the naïve, ignorant, and greedy investors.

Source: The Citizen Newspaper (+233 27 731 4655) thecitizen.news@yahoo.com (www.thecitizenghana.com )