Gold scam victim runs to media for justice

Green Global Resources Limited (GGRL), a victim of an alleged $1.3 million gold scam, has appealed to the media to help them seek justice in a case involving some fraudsters and the Ghana Police.

According to Director of the company, Mr. James Barbieri, his outfit’s only hope was in the media to expose the fraudsters.

Speaking in an interview with Today he pointed out that it was only through the intervention of the media in the matter that will bring them justice.

Mr. Barbieri lamented that three months after the interdiction of the East Legon Police Commander and his gangs, police investigation has stalled.

“I am shocked that the interdicted Police Commander is accusing the police administration of cover up,” he cried.

He asked: “How come the gold which was tested before buying as real gold then in the hands of DSP Basintale turned to be fake after DSP Basintale had sent for testing without Green Golden Resources Ltd., representatives at the Police headquarters after weeks in his possession”?

“Why did they only arrest the buyers of the gold and leave the sellers,” he further asked?

“If, according to the police, the gold was stolen, why was the money not returned to the buyers, (Golden Resources)?

“Why were the buyers processed for court the next day, and charged for buying stolen gold but the sellers were not arrested”, he demanded answers?

According to him, a lot of top senior officers and some other junior ranks including some BNI officers were alleged to have protected the scammers.

To this end, he called on the police administration to appoint a new investigator since “we can no longer trust Inspector Lohdonu, who is currently presiding over the case.”

It would be recalled that in March 2017, the Commander-in-charge of the East Legon Police Station, DSP Emmanuel Basintale, and six other junior police officers were arrested by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service for their alleged involvement in a gold fraud.

The seven police officers, according to police reports, connived with seven civilians to defraud some gold buyers to the tune of GH¢1,666,000.

The other suspects are RSM John Sovor, Corporal Baleto Buafuor, Lance Corporal Ignatius Asamoah Mensah, Detective Lance Corporal Cyrus Conduah, Detective Corporal John Maloni Juaba – all stationed at the East Legon Police Station and Detective Sergeant Charles Owusu Boateng of the Achimota School Police Station.

Their civilian counterparts are suspects Anthony Yaw Osei aka Wofa Osei, George Yeboah, Frederick Kofi AppIah aka Nana Adjei and William Hanson.

The rest are Nana Kofi Mensah, Joseph Boakye and Nana Adjei. Four others, including a supposed queen mother of Tarkwa, are said to be at large and on the wanted list of the police.

The then Director of Police Public Affairs, Superintendent Cephas Arthur, confirmed the arrest, saying the police personnel and their civilian counterparts were arrested for their involvement in two separate gold fraud cases being investigated by the CID.