Police grab alleged bank fraudster
A 54-year-old man, Emmanuel Kweku Essong, whose alleged stock-in-trade is to swindle unsuspecting clients of banks of sums of money, has been apprehended by the Ashaiman District Police Command.
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The suspect is alleged to have been going out to various banks, where he poses as a member of staff to swindle customers who deposit cash in those banks.
A close circuit television (CCTV) footage which went viral on social media in March this year, captured the suspect who posed as a worker of the Osu Branch of the Barclays Bank and allegedly swindled a school boy who had gone to make a deposit.
Luck, however, eluded the suspect when he was arrested at the Ashaiman branch of the National Investment Bank, (NIB) after he attempted carrying out his alleged nefarious operation on a nursing mother.
Ashaiman episode
Briefing journalists at Ashaiman, the Tema Regional Police Public Relations Officer, Assistant Superintendent of Police, (ASP) Juliana Obeng, said on Thursday, May 26, 2016, the suspect, dressed in a white long-sleeved shirt over trousers with a flying tie to march, went to the banking hall of the Ashaiman branch of the NIB.
According to ASP Obeng, the suspect, who disguised himself as a member of staff of the bank, approached a customer by name Gifty Nadera, a nursing mother, whose baby was crying.
ASP Obeng said the suspect, who had observed the nursing mother for a while, before approaching her, offered to help her by fast-tracking the process because of her baby.
Ms Nadera, who had gone to the bank to deposit an amount of GH¢3,400, gave the money to the suspect to carry out the transaction while she attended to the baby.
Escape
ASP Obeng said the suspect, after collecting the money, spoke to one of the tellers and immediately tried to exit the banking hall, adding that in the process of running out of the banking hall, the lady sensed danger and quickly approached the security men at the banking hall and reported that the suspect, who had posed as the bank manager of the branch, had taken her money to deposit for her.
The suspect was quickly arrested and handed over to the Ashaiman District Police Headquarters. She said investigations were underway, and added that he would be transferred to the Osu Branch of the Ghana Police Service where a similar complaint has been filed against the suspect after which he would be prosecuted.
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