Fake PDS staff arrested for extorting bills from customers

Two electricians impersonating as workers of Power Distribution Service (PDS) have been remanded into Police custody by the Kibi District Magistrate Court today Friday 16 August 2019.

The suspects were arrested at Teacher Mante in the Ayensuano District of the Eastern Region for extorting monies from postpaid customers with bill arrears.

The two suspects are Okai Samuel, 26 and Owusu Ansah, 27, both claiming to be students of Coalta Senior High school and Accra Technical University respectively.

Reports say they have been visiting the community to illegal collect bills from customers indebted to PDS.

Customers who fail to make payments are threatened with disconnection compelling them to make part payments to the suspects.

According to the residents, they became suspicious of the conduct of the two suspects so on their third day of operation in the community, they informed PDS officials who came and with the help of the community members, arrested them and handed them over to the Kibi Police Command.

“They have been in this community twice, so yesterday was their third time so when we noticed their presence we decided to inform electricity officials so they came and arrested them to the Police station. When they come they threatened to disconnect if you don’t make any payment. Sometimes even when you give them money they aren’t satisfied so that is where we suspected them to be thieves”.

The Public Relations Officer of PDS in Eastern Region, Mary Eshun said”Yes it is true that two persons impersonating as PDS workers have been arrested. They were going round illegally disconnecting customers and extorting monies from them. They disconnect and demand money before reconnecting even at worst cases they take the meters away for indebtedness”.

She commended residents of Teacher Mante for being vigilante leading to the arrest of the suspects while urging other communities to also be on alert to help fish out other perpetrators.

Mary Eshun stated that, PDS officials do not collect bills from house to house except in remote rural communities where the communities elect a leader who collects the bills to make payments on behalf of the customers due to the long distance to the PDS payment offices .