The Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) has arrested two Ghanaians and a UK-based accomplice over allegations of trade-based money laundering and romance fraud.
According to EOCO, over 16 British have fallen victim to the fraud which involves about £5 million
The suspects, Moro Musah and Sabina Adzre, allegedly operate with UK-based Opoku Agyeman, who is believed to be a Ghanaian citizen.
The two were arrested on Tuesday morning.
Addressing the media on the development, a Deputy Executive Director of EOCO in charge of Operations, Nana Antwi, said further investigations into the matter are ongoing.
He said the one-year investigation was a collaboration between the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI), NACOB, Police, and coordinated by EOCO as well as the UK’s National Crime Agency.
Nana Antwi noted that, the investigations, which was started by the UK’s Crime Agency, revealed that the monies acquired through the crime were transferred to Ghana through some banks, withdrawn and later invested in legitimate businesses mainly clothing.
“Following an investigation into trade-based money laundering in the UK and in Ghana, the NCA commenced an investigation into the money laundering and romance fraud. So far, the investigations have uncovered that over 16 persons have fallen victims to this fraud from which over £5 million has been identified as stolen from victims in the UK. This amount has been transferred from the UK and found their way through certain accounts in some banks in Ghana. Currently, those monies have been withdrawn from those accounts,” he said.
“The use of second-hand clothing, for that matter, the textiles business, has been applied to launder the proceeds of the identified romance fraud. The Ghanaian security agencies were alerted by their counterparts in the UK, and we in Ghana also commenced investigations into the fraud about a year ago,” he added.
The EOCO Deputy Executive Director, who described the case as a “complex organized financial crime”, added that a simultaneous search in some residences of suspects led to the arrest of the two persons in Accra, and one other in the UK.
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By: Sixtus Dong-Ullo/citifmonline.com/Ghana