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Recruitment into the security services has generated controversy
Recruitment into the security services has generated controversy

2021 Security service recruitment: Man in court over GH¢289,000 scam

An Accra Circuit court has remanded a 25-year-old self-styled businessman in police custody for allegedly defrauding three persons on the pretext of facilitating the enlistment of 40 of their family and friends into the security services during the 2021 recruitment.

According to state prosecutors, Justice Mensah took GH¢289,000 from the three victims and went into hiding without recruiting the 40 persons into the Ghana Armed Forces and the Ghana Immigration Service as promised.

He has, however, pleaded not guilty to three counts of defrauding by false pretence at the court, presided over by Samuel Bright Acquah.

He is to re-appear on April 7 this year.

Prosecution’s facts

The facts as presented by the prosecutor, Chief Inspector (C/Insp.) Isaac Anquandah, were that in January 2021, Mensah, dressed in a military uniform, informed his family and friends that he was a military officer with the Ghana Armed Forces, the Ghana Immigration Service and other security agencies and had protocol slots at a fee ranging from GH¢ 5,000 and GH¢ 8,000.

The prosecutor said one of Mensah’s friends informed the first victim, Bernard Wellington, a teacher, about the accused person’s protocol slots.

Protocol enlistment

Wellington then called the accused who confirmed same and asked the victim to mobilise persons who were interested in the security services for them to be enlisted through protocol.

Consequently, Bernard, according to the prosecutor, mobilised five of his relatives including two children of his headmaster and gave a sum of GH¢35,000 to Mensah to facilitate the recruitment.

Again, C/Insp. Anquandah said through the same modus operandi, Mensah lured the second victim, Catherin Konadu, to also mobilise interested persons for him.

Konadu, he said further mobilised 13 interested persons and paid GH¢108,500 to Mensah.

He further told the court that the accused visited the third victim, Kwaku Ackah, in a military uniform at Kumasi and asked him to mobilise interested persons to be enlisted through protocol.

Ackah also mobilised 22 persons and paid an amount of GH¢ 145,900 under the pretext of recruiting his people into the security services.

“The accused person, after collecting all these monies, did not recruit any person and went into hiding,” he said.

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