Editorial: The 419 Scam Coys And Govt Institutions

ON TUESDAY, we published a story exposing the fraudulent deals of Expo Africa. The story revealed how about 100 angry and frustrated Ghanaians stormed our offices to tell pathetic stories of how they had fallen prey to what most of them described as a ‘419 scam’ (advance fee fraud).

The companies of these Ghanaians, undoubtedly saw an opportunity in the claims of Expo Africa, a local company, headed by Mr. Kwame Owusu Afriyie, to market their products and possibly open new outlets for the expansion and sustenance of their businesses.

So, without hesitation these unsuspecting Ghanaians parted with large sums of monies hoping that they would be sent to a trade and exhibition fair in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States of America.

Bu the pathetic aspect of this comedy was that as at today, these Ghanaians are yet to have the refund of payments made to Expo Africa last year, while the whereabouts of Mr. Afriyie is unknown to them.

The Chronicle is least surprised about the scandal, which had engulfed these unfortunate Ghanaians. The alarm bell was rung by The Chronicle last year, warning prospective businessmen and women to steer clear of this company.

Expo Africa castigated this paper, accusing it to be the cause of the failure of the American Embassy to issue visas to its prospective conned-clients.

Though the situation in which these businesses find themselves is pathetic, we would also advise that Ghanaians opened their eyes wide when dealing with events of this nature.

The head of Expo Africa has since the publication by The Chronicle been on radio still blaming The Chronicle for the fiasco, but failed to explain to listeners where the deposits by the victims, beside the accommodation and non-refundable refundable fees have not been refunded to their owners.

But it is undeniable also that the presence of ministers of state or representatives of highly placed government officials give some of these events some clout of legitimacy, raising potential victims confidence levels in such schemes, leading them to go headlong into the net.

And it is this so-called genuineness that fools our compatriots to behave like idiots without conscience. The comical aspect of these government institutions surfaces when they realise that they too had been hooked by the scam companies to do their dirty work for them.

And instead of backing the Ghanaians that had been duped by these dubious companies, they rather show a posture of revulsion, by backing out completely from the scene as if they have nothing to do whatsoever with the whole 419 project, leaving the duped Ghanaians to their fate.

This paper vividly recollects the scam that engulfed the then Ministry of Employment and Manpower and the Labour Department in connection with a lady, who had fronted for a foreign agent who had promised to send Ghanaians hunting for jobs to South Africa.

The Chronicle is therefore advising Ministries, government agencies and institutions to be wary of companies with dubious programmes that are tainted with fraudulent undertones. They should liaise with the various embassies to ascertain the genuineness of programmes when presented to them by these so-called ‘connection’ companies before attaching their names to such programmes.

It is just unfortunate that some of these Ghanaians duped by Expo Africa had lost their business capitals to a man, who as their brother, should rather have been their keeper.