The Ashanti Regional Police Command has arrested a 34-year-old self-styled lawyer, Michael Asante for defrauding a number of people to the tune of over GH¢748,000.
Also known Michael Yaw Antwi Boasiako, the suspect, according to the Regional Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Juliana Obeng, “defrauded his victims under the pretext of securing them contracts, enlistment into the security services, admissions into tertiary institutions and other unspecified jobs, but failed to fulfill his promises and went into hiding”.
But luck eluded him and was arrested on Tuesday, the 24th October, 2017.
Briefing the press on Thursday, she said:” investigations conducted so far have revealed that suspect Michael Asante parades himself as a law lecturer at KNUST, and other times a law consultant.
“On other occasions, he presents himself to his unsuspecting clients as travel consultant and a senior state Attorney at the AG’s office in Kumasi”.
The suspect, “during the month of April through to October 2017,” Juliana Obeng said “introduced himself to two contractors as a special assistant to the CEO of Ghana National Petroleum Company (GNPC) with a promise that he could secure them contract to build oil storage tanks for the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR).
He then asked the two contractors to pay him an amount of GH¢695,000 to facilitate the process. He succeeded in getting the contractors to pay him the money but failed to honour his side of the bargain and went into hiding.
The two mentioned the issue to a National Security operative who managed to arrested the suspect at Fumasua and handed him over to the police.
“Investigations have revealed that he is not a special assistant to the CEO of GNPC neither has he gotten any transaction with TOR. He has however, admitted having collected the said amount from the complainants, but did not give it to anybody at TOR as he told the complainants” ASP Juliana Obeng.
“In the course of the investigations”, she said, “others having heard of his arrest also reported to the regional CID and complained that suspect Michael Asante under the same guise collected various sums of money ranging from Gh¢5,000 to Gh¢40,000 to enlist them into the security services, secure them admissions into the tertiary institutions and secure them jobs in the ministries and agencies.”
The suspect, according to the Juliana Obeng, has also been involved in series of fraud cases in Accra and Kumasi, and is being prosecuted in the law courts.
“The command believes that there are victims who have fallen prey to his fraudulent activities,” she said, and urged the general public to report to the regional CID to assist in further investigations.
“Meanwhile, Michael Asante has, been in this business for the past ten (10) years, meaning that he has been defrauding people for the past ten years.”
The suspect was taken to court and has been remanded into police custody to reappear on 8th November 2017, Juliana Obeng, said.
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