Four in 35,000 dollars fraud remanded

Four people, two Ghanaians and two South Africans appeared before an Accra Circuit Tribunal for duping a Briton of 35,000 dollars.

The four, charged with conspiracy and defrauding by false pretences, are Mawuli Asare, an artist and Osei Kwame, a businessman both Ghanaians and Johann Rall, an accountant and Paul Stephanus Alberts, a photo journalist, South Africans.

Their plea was not taken and they were remanded in prison custody by the tribunal chaired by Mr. Ziblim Immoru to reappear on August 3.

Police Inspector Emmanuel Boison, prosecuting, said sometime in 1998 Asare, posing as Ndebele Epe Mayele, son of Guy Mayele, a General in the late Mobutu Sese Seku's regime and other accomplices invited Rall to Ghana and showed him a trunk-full of 100 dollar bills that he (Asare) claimed to have brought to Ghana as part of his father's wealth.

Asare asked for the assistance of Rall to transfer the money to South Africa or any part of the world for investment.

Asare and Rall, the prosecution said, had used this plan to dupe a number of investors in Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana.

On July 11, this year Rall recruited Alberts from South Africa to help send Asare's wealth back home. Alberts was asked to deposit 60,000 dollars to Galaxy Security and Finance Trust as demurrage charges before clearing the box with the alleged bills.

Asare on behalf of Alberts paid 10,030 dollars to Osei who was asked to pose as the administrative manager of Galazy and promise to pay later.

Alberts then phoned and lied to Mr Myers a London-based business executive that he had been kidnapped in Ghana and that his kidnappers were demanding 35,000 dollars for his release.

Alberts requested Mr Myers to transfer the money to the Eco-Bank, Tema branch for his kidnappers but the information was intercepted by security agencies on July 18 who arrested Asare, Osei and Rall when they went to collect the money.