Bankers on the run for alleged Gh¢40,000 fraud
The Accra Circuit Court has issued a bench warrant for the arrest of two bankers for allegedly operating an illegal microfinance company and duping another banker of GH¢40,000.
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They are Gideon Asamoah Asante and Prince Takyi Turkson.
The two, together with Albert Akrofi Ocansey and Kofi Osam Armah, both bankers, are alleged to have operated an illegal microfinance company and used it to defraud people.
The prosecution claimed the bankers created a company, known as Mak Asset Management Limited, and used it to conduct their illegal business.
The four bankers have been charged with conspiracy to carry out banking business without licence, carrying out banking business without licence, conspiracy to defraud by false pretence and defrauding by false pretence.
On the run
When the case was called last Wednesday, Asante and Turkson were missing in action.
The prosecutor, Detective Chief Inspector Isaac Agbemehia, revealed that the two were currently on the run, leading the court, presided over by Mrs Janet Harriet Akweley Quaye, to issue a bench warrant for their arrest.
Ocansey and Armah, who were present, pleaded not guilty to all the charges and were granted bail in the sum of GH¢100, 000 each, with two sureties each.
At the hearing, they issued a cheque for GH¢2,000 as part payment of the GH¢40,000.
“Illegal operations’’
Detective Chief Inspector Agbemehia stated that in July 2012, Asamoah, Turkson, Ocansey and Armah established Mak Asset Management Limited and got a licence from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to strictly operate an investment advisory firm and not any banking related activities.
“However, the bankers veered from their core objectives and engaged in microfinancing and other banking related activities. They presented the company to the public as a microfinance company and started taking deposits from unsuspecting people, with the promise of high interest rate,’’ he said.
He explained that the SEC got wind of the scheme and revoked the company’s licence.
In spite of that development, Detective Inspector Agbemehia said, the four continued to operate and on October 16, 2015 they collected GH¢40,000 from another banker, the complainant in the case, as deposit.
According to him, the four promised the banker a 33 per cent annual interate.
“On October 15, 2016, which was the maturity date, the banker made a request for her money but Asamoah, Turkson, Ocansey and Armah failed to give her the money,’’ the prosecutor added.
She, therefore, reported the matter to the police, leading to the arrest of Asamoah and Turkson.
Writer’s email: [email protected]
