US visa fraud: Businessman who charged 2 victims US$27,000 in police grips

A businessman by the name Bernard Oduro Takyi is in police custody for allegedly duping two people of US$27,000 by promising to get them USA visas.

The accused is also said to have faked stamps from countries like Singapore and South Africa in the passports of his victims, as well as forging official letters from the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA).

Takyi is said to have tricked one Gabriel Kwame Ntim and Prince Kofi Osei, who work as a mechanic and as staff of the Electricity Company of Ghana, respectively to pay him for visa services.

They told Takyi Oduro they wanted to go to the US and gave him US$13,000 and US$14,000 respectively making a total of US$27,000.

To improve their chances of obtaining the visas, Takyi allegedly made fake visa stamps in their passports to prove their travel history and fake letters from the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly to indicate their professions.

Without the consent of the victims, the accused allegedly falsified embarkation and disembarkation stamps from various countries, namely Singapore, South Africa, Mauritius, and Turkey in the passports.

He then sent these documents to the US Embassy in Madagascar, where the victims were granted visas after the interview.

The fake letter from the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA), introduced one of the complainants, Gabriel Kwame Ntim, as a strategic partner for prospective investors under Ghana’s Industrial Development and Investment Fund (IDIF) policy.

Similarly, Takyi is accused of fabricating another KMA letter, presenting the second complainant, Prince Kofi Osei, as a “Metro Climate Management officer.”

However, the embassy later found out they were fake and cancelled the visas.

The accused has been formally charged with two counts of defrauding by false pretences and three counts of forgery involving official documentation. Oduro Takyi has pleaded not guilty.

During proceedings, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Maxwell Oppong, representing the prosecution, vehemently opposed bail for the accused in court presided over by Justice Samuel Acquah.