Businessman remanded for impersonating Roads and Highways Minister
The Achimota Circuit Court has remanded into police custody Kofi Tweneboah, a businessman, for impersonating the Minister for Roads and Highways, Francis Asenso Boakye.
Tweneboah and his accomplices, Boozing and Nana Kwesi, both at large, are said to have defrauded Rita Owusu Adade, a businesswoman of GH¢83,000.
The accused allegedly took the money to assist some persons with protocol allocations to travel with the Minister to a conference in Washington DC, United States.
The accused have been jointly charged with conspiracy and defrauding by false pretences.
Tweneboah and Boozing are facing an additional charge of causing harm.
They allegedly caused grievous bodily harm to Madam Rita Adade without justification.
Tweneboah pleaded not guilty, but the court remanded him into Police custody. He is expected to reappear in court on August 6, 2024.
The prosecution, led by Assistant Superintendent Police Isaac Babaye, said the complainant, Madam Adade, is trader residing in Kumasi, Ashanti Region.
Tweneboah is a resident of Tantra Hill, Accra.
The prosecution said in February 2024, the complainant ‘s sister, Linda Adade, who lives in the United State of America, was contacted by one Nana Kwesi through Facebook.
During their interaction, Nana Kwesi introduced himself as a successful real estate mogul in Ghana who was successful as a result of the “political assistance” of Francis Asenso Boakye, the Minister for Roads and Highways, who also doubles as the lawmaker for Bantama.
The prosecution said Nana Kwesi urged Linda Adade to liaise with the minister to also get some “political support.”
Nana Kwesi told Linda that the minister was getting ready for a conference in Washington-DC, USA, and would need to go with some Ghanaians who wished to travel to the USA.
The prosecution said Linda registered her interest in the offer, and discussed the issue with her sister, Rita Owusu Adade, who lived in Kumasi.
The court heard that Linda also posted the offer on her social media platforms and attracted some interested persons who gave out their passports and money to the complainant to be handed over to the minister.
According to the prosecution, on April 16, 2024, the complainant met Tweneboah and Boozing at the Kotoka International Airport and handed over five passports and the sum of GH¢83,000 to Tweneboah in the presence of Boozing, who was then dressed in police uniform.
After the transaction, the complainant detected foul play and reported the incident to the CID headquarters for an intervention.
On April 19, 2024, the complainant lured Tweneboah and Boozing to Accra to receive additional money and passports for the trip.
The prosecution said Tweneboah picked the complainant in his Toyota Hilux Pick-up truck, but sped off on seeing the police and pushed the complainant from the moving vehicle, resulting in her sustaining grievous injuries.
She was subsequently rushed to the 37 Military Hospital for medical attention.
Tweneboah and Boozing later abandoned their vehicle at Dzorwulu and bolted.
The vehicle was towed to the CID headquarters for further investigations.
On July 15, 2024, Tweneboah sent all the five passports and the sum of GH¢83,000 to the police through a source to stop the case.
On July 18, 2024, intelligence led to the arrest of Tweneboah at Achimota Mile Seven, and during interrogation, he admitted to the crime and named Boozing as a police officer at Amasaman.
The prosecution said Tweneboah also mentioned Nana Kwesi as another accomplice who lives in Nsawam.
The prosecution said efforts were underway to arrest Tweneboah’s accomplices.
Source: GNA