These Ghanaians were among eight persons charged on February 14, 2018, according to a statement from the Attorney General of the US Southern District of Ohio’s office.

Eight Central Ohio defendants charged on Valentine’s Day have now been indicted by a grand jury for conspiring to launder and for laundering the proceeds of online romance scams.

The eight persons have been identified as Kwabena M. Bonsu, Kwasi A. Oppong, Kwame Ansah, John Y. Amoah, Samuel Antwi, King Faisal Hamidu, Nkosiyoxoxo Msuthu and Cynthia Appiagyei.

According to the indictment, the accused exhibited fraudulent intent when they created several profiles on online dating sites.

They are believed to have defrauded at least 26 victims who have been identified thus far.

They contacted men and women throughout the United States “with whom they cultivated a sense of affection, and often, romance.”

“After establishing relationships, perpetrators of the romance scams allegedly requested money, typically for investment or need-based reasons, and provided account information and directions for where money should be sent. In part, these accounts were controlled by the defendants. Typical wire amounts ranged from $10,000 to more than $100,000 per wire,” the statement revealed.

The Attorney General’s office said the money was not used for the purposes claimed by the fraudsters but instead used for “transactions designed to conceal, such as withdrawing cash, transferring funds to other accounts and purchasing assets and sending the assets overseas.”

It is also alleged that the individuals used some of the fraud proceeds to purchase salvaged vehicles sold online for export to Ghana.

Fictitious reasons for investment requests included gold, diamond, oil and gas pipeline opportunities in Africa.

Websites used involve Match.com, ChristianMingle.com, BabyBoomerPeopleMeet.com, PlentyofFish.com, OurTime.com, EHarmony.com and Facebook.

Find below a section of the statement

In one example, a victim believed she was in a serious relationship with a person named “Frank Wilberg” whom she met on Match.com. She believed they planned to marry and paid $3,000 to reserve a wedding site, and had purchased a wedding gown and shoes.

“Wilberg” told the victim he owned a consulting firm that tested gold for purity and needed money to buy gold and gold contracts. He said he expected to profit $6 million and would repay her with the profits. The victim wired money to accounts controlled by Amoah, Bonsu, Msuthu, and Appiagyei, and did not receive any money back.

In furtherance of the scheme, the co-conspirators allegedly created several companies, some of which were shell companies, to help attempt to hide the true nature of their proceeds.

“The defendants attempted to launder millions of dollars in proceeds earned from an online romance scam through a series of financial transactions intended to conceal their illegal activities,” said Ryan L. Korner, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation, Cincinnati Field Office.

U.S. Attorney Glassman commended the investigation of this case by the IRS Criminal Investigation, U.S. Postal Inspection Service and HSI, as well as Assistant United States Attorney Peter K. Glenn-Applegate, who is prosecuting the case.

An indictment merely contains allegations, and defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Asare Junior, a self-acclaimed Evangelist is said to have defrauded Madam Susana Dadzie,a nurse and Veronica Mensah, a hairdresser of GH¢2,500.00 and GH¢2,200.00 respectively, under the pretext of securing admission for their wards at Premier Nursing Training School in Takoradi and Cape Coast Nursing Training School, but failed to do so.

He also defrauded Madam Rita Johnson, and Lucy Brown, both traders of GH¢3,710.00 and GH¢1,710.00 respectively under the pretext of providing a store at the new Kotokuraba market, and also getting Lucy’s son to undergo a stress-free interview at the US Embassy.

Pleading guilty to the charges, Asare Junior, also a CCTV camera installer pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy and said he was ready to pay the monies to the complainants.

The Court presided over by Ms Rita Amoaniwaa Edusah sentenced him to three months imprisonment on the first count, eight months on the second and third counts, and 12 months on the fourth count.

The court further ordered Asare Junior to pay all the monies before Friday May 11,2018.

Prosecuting, Police Chief Inspector C. Hevi, told the court that Susana Dadzie in 2014 wanted admission into a nursing training school and Asare offered to help her get admission at the Premier Nursing Training School in Takoradi.

He said Asare collected GH¢2,500.00 from Susana under the pretext of going to pay her fees and went into hiding.

He said all efforts to trace him proved futile until he was spotted at the Bakaano Police cells in Cape Coast after his involvement in a similar case.

Chief Inspector Hevi said in 2015, Asare requested Veronica Mensah to pay an amount of GH¢2,200.00, and that he could secure admission for her daughter at the Cape Coast Nursing Training School.

He said after collecting the said amount, Asare went into hiding and all efforts to trace him also proved futile until arrest.

Prosecution again told the court that Rita Johnson and Lucy Brown used to visit Asare for spiritual help and prayers.

He said during the Month of November, Rita told Asare that she wanted a store at the newly constructed Kotokuraba market.

Asare offered to help her secure one and collected an amount of GH¢3,710.00 from Rita and went into hiding.

In the same month, Prosecution said Lucy’s son attended an interview at the US Embassy in Accra but was disqualified.

He said Asare upon hearing the news offered to help Lucy’s son and collected an amount of GH¢1,710.00 from her under the pretext of securing another interview for her son to travel outside the country.

Asare again went into hiding and refused to pick Lucy’s calls. Lucy then lodged a complaint with the Police which led to Asare’s arrest in his hideout at Atabandze.

–

Source: GNA

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The report described a “pathetic and unpleasant situation” with some officers wearing worn-out shoes and others buying their own footwear.

It found that the cost of items had been inflated and receipts falsified.

The audit also found that the bill for 4,420 motorcycles had been inflated.

The ministry’s records show there was a plan to buy 26,500 pairs of shoes but the payment vouchers show money was paid for 78,000 pairs.

The report says that ministry officials defended the payments by saying that the extra shoes were for police trainees and another police unit.

Auditor General Edward Ouko said the audit had discovered forged documents and that a physical inspection found some police officers had “opted to buy shoes from various vendors, contrary to dress regulations for police officers”.

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Source: BBC

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Ibrahim Alhassan Gawsu, was additionally ordered to refund the monies collected from the victims, and to pay compensation of GHȼ4,000.00 to the Northern Electrification Distribution Company (NEDCo), a subsidiary of the Volta River Authority (VRA).

[contextly_sidebar id=”KpVrUNXroVEADOHNz72s0KZ0nC9ljuTC”]He would in default serve 10 years in jail.

The court, presided over by Ms. Lydia Osei Marfo, gave the punishment after he pleaded guilty to defrauding by false pretence.

Police Chief Inspector Daniel Gbedzinu, said the convict had been contracted by the company two years ago to take electricity meter readings in houses in the Ejura Municipality for calculation of monthly bills.

Between 2015 and 2016, he convinced 10 property owners that he could help supply power to their property and succeeded in collecting from them cash totaling GHȼ4,165.84.

The convict, however failed to deliver on his word, and the matter was brought to the notice of the company.

When confronted by the Municipal NEDCo Officer, he confessed to taking the money, and he was subsequently handed over to the police.

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Source: GNA

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The messenger app was used to send fake vouchers to people, purporting to be from trusted chains such as Asda, Tesco and Aldi.

The messages claimed to offer hundreds of pounds in savings so long as the user followed a link to an online survey asking for personal details.

The scam is a form of phishing, where fraudsters pose as reputable organisations to gain personal details.

Action Fraud, the UK’s national reporting centre for fraud and cyber crime, suggests anyone who has fallen victim to this scam to report it online or call 0300 123 2040.

So far, 33 people have come forward to report falling victim to the scam, although it is unclear how many people have received the message.

The scam works by using a link which appears almost identical to a supermarket chain’s legitimate website, but with one small difference.

For example, in the screenshot above, the d in Aldi is actually a ḍ – a Latin character with a small dot underneath the recognisable letter.

In the tweet below, the d in Asda has been replaced with đ – another character known as a crossed D.

According to Action Fraud, the survey urges victims to hand over their financial information.

If, however, a person tries to visit the homepages for Aldi misspelled with the dotted character it sends them to an error page for a different website entirely.

Meanwhile, at time of writing, attempting to access the misspelled Asda site brings up a warning in some browsers.

Upon completing the survey, the victim is urged to send the message to 20 other contacts in order to receive a £250 voucher.

This helps legitimise the scam, says Action Fraud, as rather than being sent from a random number, the WhatsApp message comes from a trusted contact.

However, it is unclear whether users may have been compromised simply by clicking on the link, as some on social media claimed that the message was shared without their contact’s consent.

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According to a statement from the Ghana Police Service, the complainant was duped by the suspect into paying the said amount with the hope of securing a place in the armed forces.

[contextly_sidebar id=”Aa57GhYbJxCMmgng3PLRREwLjJaE6xhL”]The statement from the police, signed by the Public Relations Officer of the Accra Regional Police Command, ASP Effia Tenge, described the suspect as dark in complexion, twenty-seven (27) years old, stands at five feet, nine inches tall, slightly built and has a tribal mark on his right cheek.

“He was last seen on 15th October, 2015 in a Red Burberry Shirt,” the police added.

There are reports that the suspect is hiding out in and around, Swedru, Kumasi and Accra.

“Anybody with information on his whereabouts should report to the Community 18 District Police Station, or call telephone numbers 0544 -343149 or 020-9310493, the Police Crime Fighters MTN/Vodafone Toll-Free Number, 18555 for rapid response,” the statement added.

Fake landlord wanted

The Police are also searching for a 28-year-old man, who reportedly posed as a landlord, and extorted an amount of GHc 31, 000 from a potential tenant.

According to the Police, the suspect, Nana Yaw, collected the amount from the complainant on the pretence of renting him a two-bedroom apartment at Tema in February.

A warrant has since been issued by a Magistrate Court in Accra for Nana Yaw’s arrest after he bolted with the money.

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By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Auditors found overpriced supplies, salaries for non-existent aid workers and fake customs bills.

The disease, which raged between 2014 and 2016, claimed at least 10,000 lives.

It required a massive humanitarian operation costing hundreds of millions of dollars to bring it under control.

As Ebola spread across Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, the Red Cross Federation in Geneva was dispersing cash donations to the national Red Cross societies in each of those countries – altogether a sum of about $100m.

An investigation by Red Cross auditors has revealed that in Liberia $2.7m disappeared in fraudulently overpriced supplies, or in salaries for non-existent aid workers.

In Sierra Leone, Red Cross staff apparently colluded with local bank workers to skim off over $2m while in Guinea, where investigations are ongoing, around $1m disappeared in fake customs bills.

The Red Cross told the BBC’s Imogen Foulkes in Geneva that it is deeply sorry for the losses.

The organisation adds that has introduced stricter financial rules, and promised to hold any Red Cross staff involved to account.

Fraud involving donor money is every aid agency’s nightmare, our correspondent says.

The Red Cross is the world’s best-known humanitarian organisation, and this revelation will be damaging, she adds.

–

Source: BBC

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The National Service Secretariat (NSS), in a statement, noted that about 8,000 National Service personnel have had their allowances withheld over the suspected fraud.

[contextly_sidebar id=”PiBQHKhz28w3RxoU3X7IeMEwMeTSe8MR”]The payment of service allowances for September and October are noted to have delayed because of processes designed to weed out such instances of fraud.

The NSS explained that “payment of the allowances was delayed as a result of the process of authentication and validation of all national service personnel across the country. The exercise was necessary as it has exposed a number of irregularities. In the Ashanti Region for instance, 22 people were arrested and put under investigation, nine (9) of whom are currently facing court charges.”

“In Tamale, 57 people have been arrested and are currently under police investigation,” the statement added.

The adoption of the e-zwich biometric platform was one of the measures instituted to require the needed verification and reduce fraud.

The NSS has also urged service personnel who have not biometrically registered to do so, because they were not captured for payment of the September 2017 allowances.

“All such national service personnel are therefore advised to visit the designated centres in Accra, Kumasi, or Tamale without any further delay to complete their biometric registration for their names to be validated for payment of allowances due them.”

Find below the full statement

NSS PAYS SERVICE PERSONNEL ALLOWANCES FOR SEPTEMBER, 2017

The National Service Secretariat has paid allowances for 58,000 national service personnel in the public sector for the month of September, 2017 into their individual e-zwich accounts. About 8,000 others have their allowances on hold and are under investigation for suspicion of impersonation and disqualification from doing national service.

Service personnel are therefore required to go to designated e-zwich service points to load their cards to access their allowances. Payment of the allowances was delayed as a result of the process of authentication and validation of all national service personnel across the country. The exercise was necessary as it has exposed a number of irregularities. In the Ashanti region for instance, 22 people were arrested and put under investigation, nine (9) of whom are currently facing court charges.

In Tamale, 57 people have been arrested and are currently under police investigation. National service personnel are to note that, in line with an earlier statement issued by the Acting Executive Director, all national service personnel who have not biometrically registered were not captured for payment of the September, 2017 allowances. All such national service personnel are therefore advised to visit the designated centres in Accra, Kumasi, or Tamale without any further delay to complete their biometric registration for their names to be validated for payment of allowances due them.

Management wishes to assure all national service personnel that auditing of payment vouchers for October, 2017 personnel allowances have been concluded, and that, payment would be done immediately the biometric validation is also concluded. Management wishes to appeal to the general public to assist the Scheme by providing information to the security agencies on people who are impersonating for national service.

Signed

HON. MUSTAPHA USSIF

ACTING EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR THE MEDIA

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com

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The payment of service allowances for September and October, is noted to have delayed, and the National Service Secretariat (NSS), in a statement, explained that this was to ensure a “process of authentication and validation of all national service personnel across the country.”

[contextly_sidebar id=”3hfzR7Ui0FFFTvrJNeuaeCRyooQEPYzJ”]“The exercise was necessary as it has exposed a number of irregularities,” the statement said.

As examples of the suspected fraud, the Secretariat noted that, 22 persons are being investigated in the Ashanti Region, nine of which are facing charges.

57 persons have also been arrested in Tamale, and are being investigated by Police.

The NSS is no stranger to instances of fraud, as its former Executive Director, Alhaji Alhasan Imoro, and over 20 others, were interdicted when GHc 7.9 million was found to have been paid to 22,612 ghost service persons, in more than 100 districts in July 2014.

A Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) report, suggests that between September 2013 to August 2014, Alhaji Imoro, oversaw the bloating of the NSS payroll with as many as 31,516 ghost names for National Service postings, and the National Voluntary Service recruitment.

The adoption of the e-zwich biometric platform was one of the measures instituted to prevent such widespread corruption and fraud.

The NSS has also urged service personnel who have not biometrically registered to do so, because they were not captured for payment of the September 2017 allowances.

“All such national service personnel are therefore advised to visit the designated centres in Accra, Kumasi, or Tamale without any further delay to complete their biometric registration for their names to be validated for payment of allowances due them.”

October allowances

Auditing of payment vouchers for October 2017 allowances has been concluded, the statement also indicated

“Payment would be done immediately the biometric validation is also concluded”. Management of the Scheme has meanwhile appealed to the general public to assist them by providing information to the security agencies on people who are impersonating for national service.”

Find below the full statement

NSS PAYS SERVICE PERSONNEL ALLOWANCES FOR SEPTEMBER, 2017

The National Service Secretariat has paid allowances for 58,000 national service personnel in the public sector for the month of September, 2017 into their individual e-zwich accounts. About 8,000 others have their allowances on hold and are under investigation for suspicion of impersonation and disqualification from doing national service.

Service personnel are therefore required to go to designated e-zwich service points to load their cards to access their allowances. Payment of the allowances was delayed as a result of the process of authentication and validation of all national service personnel across the country. The exercise was necessary as it has exposed a number of irregularities. In the Ashanti region for instance, 22 people were arrested and put under investigation, nine (9) of whom are currently facing court charges.

In Tamale, 57 people have been arrested and are currently under police investigation. National service personnel are to note that, in line with an earlier statement issued by the Acting Executive Director, all national service personnel who have not biometrically registered were not captured for payment of the September, 2017 allowances. All such national service personnel are therefore advised to visit the designated centres in Accra, Kumasi, or Tamale without any further delay to complete their biometric registration for their names to be validated for payment of allowances due them.

Management wishes to assure all national service personnel that auditing of payment vouchers for October, 2017 personnel allowances have been concluded, and that, payment would be done immediately the biometric validation is also concluded. Management wishes to appeal to the general public to assist the Scheme by providing information to the security agencies on people who are impersonating for national service.

Signed

HON. MUSTAPHA USSIF

ACTING EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR THE MEDIA

–

By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com

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He is reported to have duped unsuspecting residents to the tune of GHS 748,000.

[contextly_sidebar id=”kozYUhtSsXsNjunIbSi8v2kiurKreQuM”]The suspect, Michael Asante, 34, carries out his dubious acts under the pretext of securing his victims government contracts.

Other crimes

The suspect also poses as an agent to help enroll people into the security agencies, as well as getting admissions for people into tertiary institutions.

Michael Asante, who uses different names such as Michael Yaw Antwi Bosiako, was arrested by the regional police command on Tuesday, October 24, after he defrauded two contractors, promising to secure them contracts to build oil storage tanks for the Tema Oil Refinery.

The Ashanti Regional Police PRO, ASP Juliana Obeng, in briefing the media on the matter, urged victims who might have fallen prey to Michael Asante’s fraudulent activities, to report to the regional CID to assist in further investigations.

“Investigations conducted so far have revealed that suspect Michael Asante, parades himself as a law lecturer at KNUST, and other times as a law consultant. On other occasions, he presents himself to his unsuspecting clients as a travel consultant, and a senior state attorney at the AG’s office here in Kumasi,” she said.

She added that the suspect was arrested at Fumesua by a National Security operative, after the two contractors he had defrauded in April over the supposed oil storage facility construction at Tema, reported him.

The suspect, who admitted to taking money from the two victims has been remanded in Police custody, and is to reappear on 8th November, 2017.

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By: Lauretta Timah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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