The Ghanaian reportedly convinced the British into believing that she had gold worth £5 million, and will release it after receiving the amount.

The British man has been left “in a very dark place” after he spent his pension money and savings on the deal, and is currently “penniless and on the verge of a breakdown.”

Below is the story as published by the UK website:

A Nottinghamshire man who was conned out of £200,000 has told how he was left ‘in a very dark place’ after he lost his home, pension and savings, leaving him penniless and on the verge of a breakdown.

[contextly_sidebar id=”hcGmCQakDMGAG65u5C5lFmkFw2zm0uxI”]The man, who has asked not to be named but who we are calling Simon, was defrauded by convincing con artists who said that gold worth £5 million could be released in return for payment.

Now, he is sharing his story in the hope that it will encourage other people to be more aware of scams, and protect themselves online.

In 2014, while checking American hockey results online, he started talking to a woman online, who called herself Dora.

She said her father worked for a mining company, and that his firm had paid him in gold, which was looked after by the mine.

She said the company required payment for the security costs, and that it would keep the gold if the payment wasn’t made by the end of 2016.

Simon didn’t send any money for a year, but said that after 12 months, he became frustrated that the company was withholding the money from his Ghanaian friends, and decided to send some payment to help them.

Speaking to the Post, he said: “I just sent four grand at the start, and it just spiraled. They said the gold had been released, but then they said it needed shaping into bullion, and then they needed more money for it to be stamped, and it all just continued.

It all appeared to be above board, they sent copies of the gold ownership certificates, and I spoke on Skype to a man who said he was a Ghanaian police officer who said that everything was legitimate.

“I was just thinking if I spend a few more thousand I might get my money back. I didn’t just have the money lying about in a bank, I spent my pension and my mortgage. I just sent everything. I realized that something was very wrong after I’d sent about £180,000. The stories were so polished and so believable, they overload your mind and they get you into their way of thinking, the way that they want you to think.”

“They absolutely destroy your mind. The first four months after I realized it had gone belly up, it was a dark depression. Every day was black. I was in a dark place.

“But time is a good healer, I just said to myself it’s time to dust yourself off and get on with life. But I can understand that some don’t have the character I have, and I can see why people would seriously think about ending their lives. But I wouldn’t let that happen.”

The final straw was when he was asked to pay £380,000 in tax to have the gold released. He went to his bank to complain, and it was then that it became clear that he had been scammed.

After several months, Simon decided to tell his brother, who he says hasn’t judged him, and two friends of his, but he has kept it from everyone else in his life.

Now, he says he wants to share his story in the hope that other people become more aware of the dangers of online fraud.

He said: “I went online and there were pages and pages of scams, you wouldn’t believe how many different ones they are running, and a good percentage of them are from Africa.”

It was in spring this year that the man decided to contact Nottinghamshire Police.

He said: “They were very sympathetic, and they are still looking into it, but other than raising awareness, there’s not a huge amount they can do.

“The Ghanaian police are aware of it as well, but it could be anyone from a phone anywhere, so what can they do. And also because I chose to give them the money; it wasn’t stolen from me, so that would be different.”

Detective Sergeant Simon Harrison works for Nottinghamshire Police’s fraud team, a dedicated unit of around 20 detectives which works to combat fraud.

He said people spending more time online was making the crime more common, but that he was confident the force had the resources it needs to tackle the growing problem.

He said: “Because of the way online fraud works and the fact that criminals can operate from anywhere in the world, all cases go through the national body Action Fraud who then disseminate to individual forces if there are viable lines of inquiry in that area or if safeguarding measures are needed.

“With this victim’s case, it was clear that the connections ran oversees mainly in Ghana.

“The investigation is ongoing, but cases like these are notoriously very hard to conclude.

They’re most-likely operated by serious organised crime groups who know how to cover their tracks and use methods that they know are untraceable.

“That’s why we’re really concentrating on helping to educate and prevent people from falling victim because if people know what to look out for, they can shut it down and report it straight away.

“Together we can outsmart these criminals and put an end to these kind of crimes completely. Our message is clear, if someone you’ve never met asks you for money, don’t give it to them.”

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Source: nottinghampost.com

The post Gold scam: Ghanaian woman defrauds British man of £200,000 appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The then-East Legon Police Commander, DSP Emmanuel Basintale, is among the officers threatening legal action, and he has been cited as one of the leaders in the scam.

[contextly_sidebar id=”NAdXh0OtwMPxDjtdIEgrVJhHu5QwPVZx”]But in a brief comment on the matter to the media, after the Interior Minister called on the Police Headquarters on Wednesday, the IGP remarked: “Who are we to challenge him? That is his democratic right, he may go to court and sue the Ghana Police Service.”

Background

A licensed US gold buying firm, Green Global Resources, accused the Ghana Police of serious corruption at the highest level in the case of an alleged GHc 1.3 million gold scam.

This alleged gold scam saw DSP Emmanuel Basintale, and six others interdicted after they were said to have seized 13 gold bars from Green Global Resources under the pretext that they bought stolen gold. The group is believed to have been led by DSP Basintale.

Lawyer for DSP Basintale and his three other colleagues, Kissi Agyabeng, in a statement said his clients“have borne in silence the brunt of the odium the publications reduced them to in their name, reputation, and standing in society, until now.”

They maintain that their clients were dutifully doing their job when they arrested persons from Green Global Resources.

They further insisted that four officers did not engage in any criminality by any stretch of the legal and factual imagination.

According to them, the Ghana Police Service is perpetuating an illegality by purporting to hold a service enquiry in respect of our clients in flagrant violation of C.I  76.

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By: Caleb Kudah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post IGP dares DSP Basintale to sue over Ghc1.3m gold scam appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

A US licensed gold buying firm at a press conference had accused the police of being corrupt and undermining investigations in connection with the purchase of gold worth GHc 1.3 million.

[contextly_sidebar id=”borcZmvv5VJepzwzsovnblI2jOHYWemh”]But during an official visit to the Police Service at its headquarters on Wednesday, the Interior Minister boasted that “the Police has the best investigative machinery in this country and I believe it.”

Despite the allegations against the Police hierarchy by the US company, Mr. Dery said, “the reports that I know and monitoring that I have done of the situation shows otherwise.”

The minister also the stressed the need for public cooperation to help the police to effectively carry out its investigative duties.

“What I can say is that, the Police is able to respond as swiftly as the quality of information it gets will permit. This is why I will appeal to Ghanaians to provide information, vital information,” Mr. Dery said.

The Ghana Police Service has disputed claims it has not been committed and transparent in the investigation of the Ghc1.3 million gold scam.

The US firm, Green Global Resources, had held a press conference and accused Ghana Police hierarchy of corruption in the gold case.

The Director of Strategy and Business Development of Green Global Resources, James Barbieri alleged that “in this situation, a lot of senior police officials and some other junior ranking officials, some including BNI officers, were allegedly protecting the scammers.”

This gold scam case led to the interdiction of the then-East Legon Police Commander, DSP Emmanuel Basintale, and 6 others after they seized 13 gold bars from the firm under the pretext that they bought stolen gold.

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By: Caleb Kudah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Police handling Gold scam case professionally – Ambrose Dery appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

A licensed US gold buying firm, Green Global Resources, had accused the Ghana Police of serious corruption at the highest level in the case of an alleged GHc 1.3 million gold scam.

[contextly_sidebar id=”JiwgdHhiv7pNv1LNwqq0JEYvyh0Cfq3k”]This gold scam case led to the interdiction of the then-East Legon Police Commander, DSP Emmanuel Basintale, and 6 others, after they allegedly seized 13 gold bars from the firm under the pretext that they bought stolen gold. The group is believed to have been led by DSP Basintale.

Lawyer for  DSP Basintale and his three other colleagues, Kissi Agyebeng, in a statement said his clients“have borne in silence the brunt of the odium the publications reduced them to in their name, reputation, and standing in society, until now.”

He further explained that, initially, the Police Service was given “the benefit of its stature that it would institute a service enquiry timeously to establish the veracity or otherwise of the allegations, should it find the need to do so upon their interdiction” but recent events have given indication that “the Ghana Police Service is unwilling to act within the confines of law and regulation in this matter”

The lawyer also made the following clarifications on behalf of his clients

• Our clients were dutifully doing their job and proceeded to arrest suspects upon a complaint and after investigations, they arraigned the suspects.
• Our clients have not engaged in any criminality by any stretch of the legal and factual imagination
• The confessed suspects who had been charged with the respective offences before court were faced by the CID Headquarters
• The CID Headquarters has now declared them wanted again
• The substance purported to be gold has not been independently assayed to establish their nature and substance
• The suspects confessed to defrauding the complainants and switching the actual gold for fake gold
• The Ghana Police Service is perpetrating an illegality by purporting to hold a service enquiry in respect of our clients in flagrant violation of C.I  76

Meanwhile, Ghana Police Service has disputed claims it has not been committed and transparent in the investigation of the  Ghc1.3 million gold scam.

The Police’s Public Affairs Director, Sheila Abayie Buckman, indicated that, the US firm was well aware that the police personnel involved in that scam were undergoing disciplinary action, among others.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @EfeAnsah

The post DSP Basintale, others to sue Police Service over gold scam appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Speaking on Eyewitness News, the Police’s Public Affairs Director, Sheila Abayie Buckman, indicated that, the US firm was well aware that the police personnel involved in that scam were undergoing disciplinary action, among others.

[contextly_sidebar id=”GtnEA0aXUwWczgRJOQipqXKgYFsfkj96″]“From Police investigations, we realized that some five officers may be part of whatever allegations have been raised against them for misconduct, and these five officers were interdicted and as I speak to you now, they are facing internal disciplinary charges.”

“The docket on them has also been forwarded to the Attorney General’s office for advice and possible prosecution,” DSP Buckman added.

She revealed that representatives of Green Global Resources have been in close contact with the investigators and that it came as a surprise that they organised a press conference “saying they do not have trust in the police and that investigation has not been transparent.”

Furthermore, DSP Buckman said they could have resorted to the Inspector General of Police’s office “for whatever is not being transparent to them to be made known to them… I believe that, as I have been told, the investigative team has made every result of their investigation that they need to know transparent to them.”

This case was brought back into the limelight after the US firm held a press conference and accused Ghana Police hierarchy of corruption in the case.

Conspirators, led by an interdicted East Legon Police Commander, reportedly seized 13 gold bars from the firm under the pretext that the firm was allegedly buying stolen gold. So far, the then-East Legon Police Commander, DSP Emmanuel Basintale and 6 others, have been interdicted

Dispute over purity of gold

Key points in these developments are a dispute over whether the gold was pure or fake.

The Police Service has said the gold in its possession from the deal gone bad is fake, but this runs contrary to claims by the Green Global Resources, which has said it used its own technical gold testing equipment and “were very convinced of the quality of the gold.”

DSP Buckman has however maintained that the East Legon police, “took possession of some gold which police investigations at the headquarters later showed was not pure gold… The police service is not holding on to any gold belonging to either the petitioners or whoever is involved in it.”

According to her, the substantive case at hand has to do with the conduct of police officers interdicted.

She explained that the firm petitioned the IGP that “they had been defrauded, yet the police had arrested and charged them with dishonestly receiving stolen gold. On that basis, police proceeded on investigations and realized that there was no basis for that charge at all because the substance believed to be the gold  for which they were put before court turned out not to be gold so they were discharged.”

This incident happened in November 2016.

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

The post Investigations into GHc1.3m gold scam transparent – Police appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Addressing the press today [Tuesday], the Director of Strategy and Business Development of Green Global Resources, James Barbieri noted that “in this situation, a lot of senior police officials and some other junior ranking officials, some including BNI officers, were allegedly protecting the scammers.”

[contextly_sidebar id=”mZJcjAAoYzbvagXIWkS3XIWFN3l95goo”]”Unfortunately the country of Ghana is the real loser here because your security services are apparently corrupt and cheat potential investors and drive this potential away by protecting the scammers and these police corrupt officials,” he said.

This gold scam case led to the interdiction of the then-East Legon Police Commander, DSP Emmanuel Basintale, and 6 others after they seized 13 gold bars from the firm under the pretext that they bought stolen gold. The group is believed to have been led by DSP Basintale.

However, James Barbieri gave new information to the effect that the alleged leader of the fraud syndicate, one Courage Kobby, has been let off the hook by the police in a move he says highly suggests that he is in collusion with the police hierarchy.

Mr. Barbieri said he was disappointed with how the new Inspector General of Police (IGP), David Asante Apeatu, has dealt with the case so far, despite the assurances he gave when he assumed office.

Mr. Barbieri also called on the President to act quickly to ensure delivery of justice since the case could thwart the drive for foreign investment into the country.

“It must be stated categorically that, the 13 boxes of gold that was confiscated have still not been returned to Green Global Resources Ltd. and we believe it is in the possession of the Police Service. We are therefore calling on the President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo; Mr. David Asante Apeatu, Inspector General of Police and Mr. Bright Oduro, Director-General of the CID, to act on the information provided above to act upon to retrieve our money or the bars of gold are given to us,” he said.

Investments could suffer

Green Global Resources has noted that it has a lot of investments and is ready to do legitimate business in Ghana “but the managers are becoming apprehensive whether they can come and continue to invest in Ghana or not.”

“If the perpetrators of this scam are not brought to book, it will have an effect on the country’s image which may heighten the fears of potential foreign investors who may be willing to come and invest in Ghana,” the company has warned.

Background of the case according to Global Resources Ltd:

1. Global Resources Ltd, USA agreed to purchase 11 kilos of gold worth one million three hundred thousand Ghana cedis (Ghc1.3m) from Mr. Courage Gegepe Kobby, the CEO of General Union Investment Agencies. In less than ten minutes just after the transaction was completed and the cash was taken away by Mr. Courage, a team of Policemen suddenly appeared in the Conference room of the Tang Palace Hotel, arrested the buyers and took them to the East Legon Police station without any explanation or reason. They were later told that they were arrested for buying stolen gold. They were detained overnight in police cells after their Passports, cash on them and Mobile phones were collected. Most traumatic personal experience for these four law abiding USA citizens.
2. In all, the buyers paid for eleven kilos of gold but were in possession of thirteen (13) kilos which they paid for since the quality of two (2) were tested and found to be below their standard. They used their own technical gold testing equipment and were very convinced of the quality before the payment was made.
3. The buyers held onto the 13 kilos in a box on the way to the police station when one of the arresting Police officers hinted to them that they were being scammed. When they met the East Legon Police Commander, DSP Mr. Emmanuel Basintale in his office, they were required to hand all the 13 kilos in the box to him personally but he did not give them any receipt or any documentary proof; he rather pushed them into the police cells.
4. A fellow foreign businessman friend to the victims who came into the Police station to assist and if possible arrange their release was also arrested and detained in a similar manner by the Police.
5. All their phones, passports and cash on them were collected from them immediately when they were arrested and only returned to them on Monday, 14^th November 2016.
6. The buyers were only released on bail in the afternoon of Sunday, the 13^th November 2016 after Green Global business associate went and confronted Mr Basintale, the East Legon Police Commander in his office that afternoon before he granted them the bail.
7. Whilst buyers were in detention about 04:00 am, the dawn of Sunday, the driver of the buyers who was waiting outside and with some other persons allegedly saw Mr Basintale back to his office and they strongly suspected that he came and took the seized gold away.
8. Shockingly, on 14/11/16, they were sent to Court by the East Legon Police and charged for buying stolen gold.
9. On the release of the victims, they hired Attorneys who brought a petition to the CID Hqrs on their behalf on 15/11/2016 for Police assistance and were subsequently referred to the DVS unit of the CID Hqrs for investigation.
10. The buyers were very hopeful that they were going to retrieve their gold since it was supposed to very safe in the custody of the East Legon Police.
11. At the DVS, the victims showed some pictures they took of the business transaction to the DVS commander and he was surprised and told them that he knew the scammer and also brought out a picture of Mr Courage, wearing the same dress he wore whilst cheating them, they became very hopeful at this point that the Commander was honest and definitely going to help them apprehend the criminals.
12. The DVS investigators also told them that the scammer, Mr Courage was already on Police bail involving previous Gold scam cases involving foreign investors at both the DVS of the CID Hqrs and the Accra Regional Police Hqrs.
13. To their dismay, the case was suddenly withdrawn from the DVS unit and referred to a different Unit at the CID Hqrs.
14. The investors got frightened of this police corruption and behaviour towards them and left the country when they realised that a lot of Senior Police officers at different levels were behind the scammers and were also repeatedly been warned by many local people that they should forget about their gold and money since Ghana was so corrupt and no one was going to help them.
15. The victims’ lawyer also met the former IGP but he also could not assist them; heightening their fears.
16. DSP/Mr Basintale surprisingly, had been at post without any disciplinary action taken against him until he was interdicted recently in March 2017 by the new IGP and the subsequent media coverage.It should be noted that the former Dp/Dir/CID, Mr. Denis was very much aware of all these unfortunate developments and was initially very instrumental in the calling of the case from East Legon Police to the CID Hqrs. Unfortunately, he was also aware of Mr Courage Kobby’s cases at the CID Hqrs and the Regional CID but never arrested Mr. Courage Gegebe Courage till date and has also not helped the victims. He allegedly was involved in the withdrawing of the case from the DVS to the new investigating team which he has a strong hold over.

17. A lot of top Senior Officers and some other junior ranks including some BNI officers are alleged to be protecting the scammers and Mr Courage is always allegedly bragging about his immunity from the whole Police Service and the Courts.
18. Unfortunately, the country, Ghana in the long run is the loser since her Security Services are apparently corrupt by cheating and driving potential investors away instead of protecting them.
19. What prevents DSP/Mr Basintale or the Ghana Police from producing the 13 kilos of gold he personally collected in his office back to the victims?
20. It is also alleged that no entries were made in the Station diaries of the East Legon Police about the arrest, detention of the victims and seizure of the gold; no receipt given to the victims.
21. DSP Basintale allegedly brought some gold to be tested by the new investigation team from the CID Hqrs but the victims were not even invited to be present or to identify the gold bars before testing which automatically ended in a negative result as fake gold.
22. The new investigate team was alleged to be composed under the supervision of Mr. Denis and unsurprisingly they have not even tried to consult the initial investigators for any update till date.
23. Mr Courage Kobby Gegebe is still a free man going around possibly defrauding other innocent victims and the CID allegedly are now pretending to be looking for him and the other fraud culprits.
24. CCTV footages of the transactions and individuals are available and could have been collected from the Tang Palace where the transaction took place for further investigation; the collection of the CCTV footages was already put in motion officially by the DVS investigators but nothing has been done since the docket was collected from them.
25. A senior CID Officer has some photographs of the transaction which were given him by the victims. Likewise, the DVS who have Mr. Courage on bail with a surety should also be in the position to make him available for questioning when needed.
26. After the media reportage of the welcomed interdiction of DSP. Basintale and his fellow policemen, the investors were privileged to meet with the new IGP on March 24^th 2017 but were disappointed with the outcome of their trip when they had to go back to the US apparently achieving nothing. They were verbally promised that they will be collecting their money for them and will at the same time be going to court with criminals
27. Their fears became heightened again when after three months no progress has been made with this unbearable case of Police corruption and breach of public trust.

Key questions from Global Resources Ltd.

1. Who reported that the gold bought by Global Resources were stolen from them?
2. When was it reported to the Police at East Legon?
3. Why did the East Legon Police Commander take the gold from the buyers without giving them any receipts?
4. How come the gold which was tested before buying as real gold then in the hands of DSP Basintale turned to be fake when, DSP. Basintale sent them for testing without Green Golden Resources Ltd. representatives at the Police Headquarters after weeks in his possession?
5. Why did they only arrest the buyers of the gold and leave the sellers?
6. If according to the police, the gold were stolen, why was the money not returned to the buyers, (Golden Resources)?
7. Why were the buyers processed for court the next day, Monday and charged for buying stolen gold but the sellers were not arrested?
8. And lastly, we are also pleading with the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and the Director General of CID to change the Investigator handling the case, Inspector Lohdonu, for a new Investigator to take over because we have lost trust in the way he is handling it when we last met with him and the CID Boss a fortnight ago at the CID Headquarters.

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By: Duke Mensah-Opoku/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Police hierarchy complicit in GHc1.3m scam – US Gold firm appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.