Court remands four

Wednesday, June 17, 2009 (Page 31)

THE Accra Circuit court yesterday remanded four persons who allegedly defrauded a British national of £4,000 under fraudulent means popularly known as “Sakawa”.
The suspects, Michael Ivan Kesty, Stephen Dadzie, Godwin Aborge and Julius Nutsukpo, were alleged to have established contacts with the Briton through the Internet as friends but later used that opportunity to extract various sums of money totalling £4,000 from him.
They pleaded not guilty to two counts of conspiracy and defrauding by false pretence and they were remanded to reappear on Monday, June 22, 2009.
At the court’s sitting in Accra, an Assistant Superintendent of Police, Ms Mary Agbozo, prayed the court to remand the accused persons to enable the police to complete investigations into the matter.
The facts of the case were that Michael and Stephen were known by the victim as surveyors based at Kasoa in the Central Region while Godwin and Julius exploited their cordial relationship with the victim to their advantage.
After winning the trust of the victim, Michael and Stephen informed him (victim) that the chief of Gomoa Fetteh and Akoti Village was selling parcels of land to prospective buyers.
The two allegedly mentioned the name of the chief as Baba Musah and assured their victim that they could facilitate the purchase of 5,000 acres for a fee of £100,000.
According to the prosecution, the accused persons allegedly told the victim that 3,000 acres of the land was located at Gomoa Fetteh while 2,000 acres was at Kwasikrom also at Gomoa Fetteh.
They then requested for £10,000 from their victim for the documentation covering the parcels of land. They were also alleged to have informed their victim that the remaining £90,000 was to be paid over nine years in £10,000 instalments yearly.
It said Michael and Stephen then sent a letter via the Internet purportedly signed by the Registrar of the High Court with Chief Baba Musah as witness to the transaction.
According to the prosecution, the victim then sent £1,400 to Michael and Stephen through the money transfer system.
The prosecution stated that Godwin and Julius on their part, informed their victim that their father had suddenly fallen ill with stroke and solicited for £2,600, which the victim sent.
The victim later discussed his transactions on the purchase of the land and his donation to Godwin and Julius, the accused persons, with some London-based Ghanaians.
The prosecution stated that it was during the discussion that the victim was informed that the transactions were fraudulent, adding that the victim then lodged a complaint with the police and under an arrangement, the victim informed the two groups that he had sent £750 to them and asked them to pick it up.
It said a team of detectives laid ambush on the premises of the money transfer organisation and arrested the four men when they showed up to collect the money.