Six Nigerians have been arrested for allegedly forging
letterheads of the Office of the President of Ghana, John Mahama and
other state institutions to defraud people.
According to a report on Ghana’s Daily Graphic, the arrested suspects
are Paul Kelvin, 20; Wallace Darden Odon, 28; Osamidiamwen Ikecheku
Emeka, 24; Prince Ejime, 19; Charles Chinedu, 32, and Adebayoo Alaba
Saheed, 21.
It was gathered that all the suspects are unemployed while they live in the west African nation.
Reports stated that all the arrested Nigerians have been charged with
forging documents, signatures and posing as state officials.
It was also gathered that the suspects were charged with deceit of
public officers because they gave false names to the police during
interrogation.
The Ghanaian website, while quoting the Accra Regional Crime Officer,
Chief Superintendent of Police Mr Paul Kontomah, reports that the
suspects were arrested in a house at Ayensu Estate, near Adenta in
Accra, on 9 June, 2014.
Among the letters retrieved from the suspects was one directing a
former Inspector-General of Police (IGP) to take his compulsory leave
for Mr Mohammed Alhassan, the current IGP, to take over the position.
There were also certificates signed by the Minister of the Interior,
Mr Kwesi Ahwoi, to prove the origins of some American citizens, as well
as High Court disclaimer forms.
Mr Kontomah said the police, acting on intelligence said that the young
men were involved in criminal activities, swooped on them in the early
hours of 9 June, “and we found them busy browsing the Internet in their
room with laptops.”
He said prior to the arrest of the suspects, residents of the area
had filed complaints with the police that a group of young men in the
house had been harassing them in the night.
Among items police retrieved from the Nigerians were eight laptops
and a search on them led to the retrieval of a number of forged
documents from state institutions.
Some of the forged documents are ones from the Office of the
President, the High Court, the Ghana Police Service, the Value Added Tax
division of the Ghana Revenue Authority, among other institutions.
The police chief said the suspects used the documents to facilitate
illegal electronic transaction and lure people to part with money.
In addition to the eight laptops retrieved from the suspects, a
quantity of dried substances believed to be Indian hemp was also
allegedly found on them.
One of the letters on the letterhead of the Office of the President
and purportedly signed by Dr Raymond A. Atuguba, the Executive Secretary
to the President, read: “His Excellency the President has given
approval for Mr Paul Tawiah Quaye, the Inspector-General of Police, to
commence his compulsory 90-day terminal leave from February 5-4 May
2013.