Two remanded over visa fraud.

Kumasi, Nov. 29, GNA - A carpenter and a self-employed man were on Tuesday remanded by a Kumasi Circuit Court for allegedly defrauding a banker ofGH=A240,500(405million) cedis under the pretext of helping him to win an Italian lottery.

Mark Kwaku Dapaah and Yaw Amoateng pleaded not guilty to conspiracy and defrauding under false pretext and will re-appear on December 11. Police are looking for their two accomplices. Police Chief Inspector Francis Kwame Kusi told the court that the compliant, Mr. Isaac Oppong lives in Kumasi whilst the accused persons live in Accra.

He said in April the compliant received a call from an unknown person claiming to be living abroad and thanking him for service he rendered to him whilst he was in Ghana.

The interaction on phone later generated into friendship and continued for some time when the unknown caller promised to reward him by securing the compliant an Italian Lottery that would enable him and his family to travel to Italy.

Mr Kusi said the caller introduced three of his friends in Ghana whom he said would assist him in the process of acquiring the visa. The stranger asked the complainant to buy three beautiful kente clothes and send them to him through his friends to use them to convince some white people to make him win the lottery and he obliged and bought the clothes at GH=A240,500.00 (405million) After sometime, the complaint received a letter of gratitude from the recipients through his friends. The caller again told the complaint that a scratch card at the cost of 35,000 Euros would be received through the three friends. He instructed that GH=A218,000 (180million) should be given to the three to buy some liquid chemical which would be used to wash and expose the secret code.

The chemical could not expose the code so the amount was given to them for the second time by the complaint but this time a specific card was directed to be bought and it worked out. The complaint became suspicious after realizing that the number on the card were lotto numbers and called the stranger but he asked him to relax. He traced the two of the accused persons to their house in Accra and had them arrested.

They were brought to Kumasi but they denied and in the presence of the police the complaint who knew their cell phone numbers called their phones and the phones rang. During investigations they could not lead the police to the others and admitted they were just errand boys.