The Kasoa District Police Command has arrested a serial MoMo fraudster who operated in Kasoa in the Central Region.
The suspect has been defrauding unsuspecting mobile money vendors within the Kasoa municipality.
According to police reports, several mobile money vendors within the Kasoa Municipality have fallen prey to activities of the suspect, 33 years old Emmanuel Dawson a taxi driver and resident of Opeikuma a suburb of Kasoa.
His modus operandi has been that he’d deliberately approach MoMo vendors and first make a transaction involving a small amount.
He’d later request for the contact of the business owner under the guise of wanting to do a transaction involving huge amounts.
He’d later copy the WhatsApp display photo of the business owner and create a new WhatsApp account with it and initiate a chat between him, the suspect and the vendor pretending to be the business owner.
Dawson would request for the unsuspecting vendor to send some amount of money to another MoMo vendor then he’d subsequently go there for a cash out.
A similar trick of his where a female vendor was defrauded of GHC 2,500.00 led to his arrest by the police intelligence unit led by DSP Alex Obiri Yeboah after painstaking investigations that lasted several weeks.
Following that, several victims have since his arrest appeared at the Kasoa District Police Command to testify against the suspect.
However, the Kasoa Akweley District Court presided over by His Worship Stephen Ofori Akrasi has granted a GHC 20.000.00 bail with 2 sureties with one landed property to be verified and by a government worker not earning less than GHC 2,000.00.
Michael Lartey, counsel for the accused person, who pleaded not guilty to the two charges pressed against him which includes obtaining electronic payment falsely contrary to section 119 of electronic transactions act 2008, act 772 prayed the court for a bail on the grounds that the suspect is not a flight risk and has a widely known and permanent place of abode whilst arguing also that all offenses are bailable.
The judge thus granted bail to the suspect even whilst mentioning that MoMo fraud has been negatively affecting the economy and the bail was only to ensure that the rights of the suspect would not be affected as a denial could mean that he was put under a prima fasciae conviction especially when he the judge was set to proceed on leave.
The case has this been adjourned to 6th November, 2023.
By: Akwasi Addo | Metrotvonline.com | Ghana
