Michael Ayittey Okine (Ayitey Powers) in Court for Visa Fraud

Michael Ayittey Okine, alias Ayitey Powers, the famed Ghanaian boxer, was last Monday arraigned for allegedly taking money from two residents of Kumasi, the Ashanti regional capital, amounting to GH¢14,000 under the pretext of secur­ing them visas.
The suspect was put before a court presided over by Audrey Kocuvie- Tay and charged with defrauding by false pre­tence.
He pleaded not guilty and has been granted a GH¢ 50,000 bail with two sureties, while the case has been adjourned to September 18, 2014.
Presenting the facts of the case, the prosecutor, Chief Inspector Isaac Agbemehia, said the com­plainants were Nana Oppong Yaw of Asuoye- boah and Kofi Asante of Abrepoh Junction in Kumasi.
According to him, in November 2013, the sus­pect purportedly took advantage of his boxing career and claimed he could acquire visas for some Ghanaians to travel to Australia as part of his boxing team.
He said some Ghana­ians resident in Australia who heard about the sup­posed deal, went and saw the boxer and told him they wanted some family members to join them, adding that he (Powers) allegedly promised that he could assist them.
The prosecutor stated that as a result of that, Nana Oppong paid to the suspect GH¢6,500 while Asante paid him GH¢7,500; and Ayitey took their passports with the aim of acquiring visas for them.
Furthermore, the pros­ecutor noted that even though the complainants were not boxers, the sus­pect acquired boxers’ identification cards for them from the boxing authority which he for­warded to the Australian High Commission and showed evidence to the complainants on February 12, 2014.
Explaining further, Chief Inspector Agbeme­hia said the complainants were not satisfied with the turn of events regarding their visa application and asked the boxer for a refund but he failed to do so.
He observed that the victims reported the mat­ter to the police and the boxer, recently defeated by Bukom Banku, another Ghanaian boxer, in a recent boxing bout, was consequently arraigned before the court.