"Internet Love" Cost American $150,000

GREG Stivey, an American, apparently did not find it strange when a girl friend he met on the internet demanded huge sums of money from him.

He readily sent her 3,500 dollars she requested for her to join him in the US and parted with another 2,000 dollars to secure her release from a supposed arrest at the Kotoka Airport for possessing 33 kilogrammes of gold.

Through various representations by the girlfriend, identified by the police as Nancy Osei, and her accomplices, Mr Stivey sent a total of 150,000 dollars before realizing that there was something wrong.

Superintendent Denis Abade of the CID Headquarters told the Times that Edmund Ametepey, unemployed, and Alexander Quarshie, a trader, Nancy’s accomplices are assisting the police in investigations.

Nancy herself is on the run.

He said the American met Nancy at a dating site on the Internet, in January last year and introduced herself as a single lady who was looking for a Christian man to marry. He became interested in her, and started corresponding with her through the Internet.

He said that Nancy later on informed Mr Stivey of her desire to join him in the USA, and demanded $3,500 for the trip. The amount was transferred to her.

Mr Stivey later on received a call from one Kennedy Smith, an alleged travel agent, who informed him that Nancy had been arrested at the Kotoka International Airport for allegedly carrying 33 kilogrammes of gold, and so 2,000 dollars was needed for her release. He accordingly transferred the amount to secure her release.

The police said after that transaction, Ametepey and Quarshie told Mr Stivey "stories upon stories" about Nancy’s trip, which made him transfer more money to bring the total to 150,000 dollars.

In August last year, the American came down to Ghana with the view of tracing his supposed fiancée, only to realise that he had been duped. Consequently he sought legal advice. He has since left for the US.

.The police said that in January, this year, Stivey received a call from a lady who claimed to be Nancy’s friend, and said Nancy had been kidnapped for three months, and she needed 300 dollars to buy a new phone. The money, should be sent in the name of Alexander Quarshie, a supposed pastor’s son.

The police said the money was transferred on January 15 but when Quarshie went to the Industrial Area branch of the SG-SSB to collect it on January 23, he was arrested by the police who had been alerted by Mr Stivey.

Further investigations led to the arrest of Ametepey.