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Crime & Punishment of Saturday, 20 September 2014

Source: Daily Guide

German arrested for fraud

A 52-year-old German has found himself in the grip of the law for being part of a?syndicate that had allegedly been defrauding unsuspecting Ghanaians under the pretext of selling them oil sealants. Klaus Diepor Hierichf, a civil engineer, was apprehended together with his accomplice, Kwesi Kwarkye, 47, on September?1, 2014, at a restaurant at East Legon, a suburb of Accra, upon a tip-off by the Odorkor police.

Two of their accomplices, whose names were given as Robert and Elder Mensah, are currently at large and are being hunted by the police.

Confirming their arrest to DAILY GUIDE, ASP Afia Tenge, Accra Regional Police Public Relations Officer, said the case was reported to the Odorkor District police by one Alex Darko, chief chef of Golden Tulip Kumasi.

According to the complainant, he received a telephone call from Robert -now at large – on August 26, 2014, and he introduced the oil sealant business to him, adding that it was in high demand by workers of the Jubilee oil fields.

The complainant said Robert, in the course of their telephone conversation, added that he knew some civil engineers at the Jubilee oil fields who need-ed those items to buy at a cost of Ghc5,000 and that if victim was interested he could connect him to the owners.

“Suspect Robert, who claimed he had no money himself to go into such a lucrative business, added that he also knew someone by name Elder Mensah at Awoshie, a suburb of Accra, who also sold the oil sealants, maintaining that that person could supply victim with the items at a cost of Ghc4,000 per sealant.

According to ASP Afia Tenge, later the victim received a telephone call from Klaus Diepor Hierichf and Kwesi Kwarkye that Robert had asked them to contact him (Robert) for some oil sealants at a cost of Ghc5,000 each.

The victim, who was convinced, was said to have contacted Elder Mensah, the supposed supplier, and bought a sample at a cost of Ghc4,000 for examination.

Upon examining the oil sealant bought from suspect Elder Mensah, the victim detected that the item was a bicycle part having been painted and immediately reported the matter to the Odorkor police.

The police, with the help of informants, infiltrated suspects’ camp at a restaurant at East Legon and managed to apprehend suspects Klaus Diepor Hierichf and Kwesi Kwarkye, but Robert and Elder Mensah managed to escape.