Three wanted:• For defrauding businessman
Officials of the Bureau of National Investigations are on the heels of three persons said to have defrauded a businessman of $1 million.
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The three are alleged to have sold a parcel of land belonging to the business mogul, Alhaji Asoma Banda to the businessman (name withheld).
The suspects are Osei Kweku Brenu, alias Otu Acheampong, Agya Owusu and John Mensah.
The businessman was said to have paid the money after his lawyer confirmed that the land documents were genuine but they were later found to be forged.
Airport land
A source at the BNI told the Daily Graphic that 12 people, including two lawyers and two bankers, who had all been discharged, were involved in the scam.
It said a forged indenture covering a parcel of land at the Airport Residential Area was presented to the businessman to study if he was interested in buying the land.
The source said the businessman submitted the indenture to his lawyer to do a search at the Lands Commission to confirm its authenticity.
According to the source, a week later, the lawyer informed the businessman that the documents were genuine.
“Upon that, the complainant (businessman) on April 7, 2015, issued a cheque for GH¢3.5 million equivalent of $1 million at the time, as part payment,” it said.
It said the complainant subsequently engaged the services of some masons and carpenters to barricade the parcel of land.
While on the site, the source said, Alhaji Banda, who was in London at the time, sent his security guard to stop the artisans after someone had notified him that his land was being trespassed on.
The source said Alhaji Banda asked that the purported land owner call him for a discussion.
It said it was after the complainant had consulted with the lawyers of Alhaji Banda that he (complainant) realised that he had been defrauded and subsequently lodged a complaint with the BNI.
According to the source, initial investigations led to the arrest of Albert Kojo Coleman, alias Joe Talanku, and Douglas Adjei on April 28, 2015.
Investigations, it said, revealed that Talanku rented an apartment at Tantra Hill where Brenu was housed for three days and posed as the owner of the land.
It said it was in that house that the complainant and the suspects met and negotiated the price of the land.
The source said Brenu was given GH¢1.8 million as his share with the other suspects receiving various sums of money.
It also said the lawyer for the complainant was allegedly given GH¢105,000 by Brenu as his share with the second lawyer also receiving GH¢50,000.
The source said the second lawyer had refunded GH¢40,000 with a balance of GH¢10,000 yet to be made, while the complainant’s lawyer had refused to refund his money claiming it was his legal fees.
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