SOME UNSUSPECTING residents in and around Kumasi metropolis have fallen victim to the fraudulent activities of two young men who allegedly posed as police officer and human resource agent for their respective organisations in a phony enlistment programme.
The suspects, Kwadwo Afriyie, 45, a tile layer, and Mark Yama, 26, unemployed, are currently in police custody, assisting with investigations. They were arrested on August 3, 2012 separately at their hideouts in the city when information about their fraudulent activities got to the police.
DCOP Augustine Gyening, Ashanti Regional Police Commander, told journalists that Kwadwo Afriyie, who posed as a police officer, had in his possession some forged documents bearing the Ghana Police Service (GPS) logo.
According to him, the suspect used the said documents in collecting various sums of money from his unsuspecting victims under the pretext of facilitating their recruitment into the service.
The police chief stated that the fake police officer, in one of his fraudulent moves to convince people to apply for the enlistment, contacted a complainant to pay him GH¢1,200 to ensure an easy sail into the service.
The complainant, who became suspicious, reported the matter to the police, leading to the arrest of the suspect, DCOP Gyening indicated. The police found on him fake police medical and recruitment forms, a stamp, and a letter embossed with GPS logo purporting to postpone police training at the various centres across the country, due to President John Atta Mills’ death.
In the case of suspect Mark Yama, he made a representation to his victims as a human resource agent of a supposed Cable Gold Consult Internet in Kumasi, claiming to recruit qualified persons as marketing officers for the said company.
The suspect was said to have managed to swindle victims of his scam sums of money as an interview fee that was pegged at GH¢15 per head. After collecting their monies, DCOP Gyening said, the suspect could not take the victims to where the supposed company was located when he met them at the Adehyeman Gardens area in Kumasi.
He disclosed that the fraudster had asked the victims, who were from different parts of the country, to converge on the Adehyeman Gardens area to be taken to their will-be employers for orientation.The police commander intimated that the victims became suspicious of Mark Yama and alerted the police about his activity, leading to his arrest.
The suspect admitted to the offence during police interrogation, indicating that he was working for a non-existing company, said DCOP Gyening. Yama told police investigators he went into the fraudulent business after falling victim to it once when he completed school and was looking for a job.
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