Police nab leader of fraud, car robbery gang in Accra
A 36-year-old man, Nene Tetteh, believed to be the kingpin of a fraud and car robbery gang that operates in Accra has been arrested by the police.
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A Toyota Fortuner and a Hyundai Santafe, believed to have been robbed from a judge and a banker respectively, have been retrieved from the suspect.
The suspect, who is said to have masterminded the car robbery operations under the pretext of being a car dealer, was arrested on July 14 this year.
His arrest followed information the police gathered upon interrogating other accomplices who were busted by detectives from the Achimota Police Station.
Briefing the Daily Graphic yesterday, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Accra Regional Police Command, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Efia Tenge, said the police were still investigating the issue and would process the suspect for court in due course.
Modus operandi
Giving an account of the mode of operation of the suspected robbery gang, she said the robbers played to a well-rehearsed game plan that involved feigning interest in car deals and later robbing unsuspecting persons of either their cars or money.
She narrated that on April 6, 2017, the victim (name withheld) spotted an unregistered Hyundai saloon car parked at Westland in Accra which had been advertised for sale with the mobile phone number 0255024350 on the car.
“The victim called the number and spoke to one Agyapong and they agreed on GH¢25,000 as the cost of the car. The said Agyapong told the victim that he would send one of his errand boys to bring the car to the victim for inspection.
“After a short while, the victim received a phone call from another person who introduced himself as the errand boy. After the two met and inspected the car, they drove in the same car to the Agbogba Junction where they met one Kofi Lawton, who claimed to be the owner of the car.
“The victim paid GH¢25,000 to Kofi Lawton and got a receipt to that effect. Afterwards, Kofi Lawton instructed the ‘errand boy’ to go with the victim for the car documents at Adjiringano and come back for the car which was parked at Agbogba.
“The two went to the roadside to take a taxi to Adjiringano, but the errand boy told the victim that he did not have enough money on him and had to go back to collect some money from Lawton.
“After waiting for some hours, the victim returned to where the car was parked, only to realise that the car, as well as the sellers could not be found,” she narrated.
Investigations
ASP Tenge said the victim made a formal complaint to the police who started investigating the issue.
“On May 13, 2017, the victim spotted a Toyota Fortuner that had been advertised for sale with the same cell phone number that was used to rob him previously.
“The complainant told the police about it. This time round, a female was used to feign interest in the car. The lady was taken through a similar process, with the suspect asking her to meet them at Abeka Junction to make payment.
“Detectives from the Achimota Police Station were deployed to lay ambush at the scene. Not quite long afterwards, suspects Lawton, Robert Tackie and Nana Ackah arrived on the scene on board a Toyota Fortuner and Hyundai Santafe with registration numbers GR-2431-16 and GW-8622-16 respectively,” she said.
The arrest
ASP Tenge said after the suspects entered the banking hall with the lady for the transaction to be made, the police closed in on them.
“During the identification parade, the victim identified Lawton as the one he paid the GH¢25,000 to at Agbogba,” ASP Tenge said.
She added that after interrogation by the police, Lawton admitted to collecting the money from the victim and had started refunding it to the complainant through the police.