A 38-year-old man in Kumasi, who usually poses as a staff member of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) in order to dupe unsuspecting customers of the company, is in trouble as he now faces court action.
The suspect, Richard Addai, was arrested by the police when he was on the brink of receiving an amount of GH¢1,900 as a bribe from an ECG customer he (Addai) had accused of stealing power from the ECG.
The suspect, who is now firmly in police grips, has been charged with impersonation and forging of official document. Police sources disclosed to DAILY GUIDE that he would be arraigned on Tuesday.
Addressing the media, Erasmus Kyere-Baidoo, Ashanti Regional ECG Communications Manager, lamented that some unscrupulous people usually go about as ECG staff members in order to dupe people and tarnish the image of the company.
Throwing more light on the arrest of Addai, he said the suspect was a former worker of Ghana Electrometer Company – a private company contracted by the ECG to install G-prepaid meters in homes and offices in Kumasi.
Richard Addai, ECG imposter
According to him, the private company was experiencing a series of thefts of their meters and they suspected Addai as the thief so they dismissed him about one week ago, only for him (Addai) to start parading as ECG staff to hoodwink people.
He said on Saturday, 27th October, 2018, Addai visited a Corn Mill facility at North Bantama in Kumasi, where he accused the workers of the facility of stealing power. He quickly disconnected power supply to the facility.
The ECG Communications Director said he then showed a fake ECG staff ID Card and a note of ‘Notice of ECG Illegal Electricity Usage’ to the people at the scene, after which he disconnected power supply to the facility.
The owner of the facility, one Bashiru Alhassan, was not present when Addai visited the Corn Mill facility. Later on, Bashiru called Addai on phone and he (Addai) demanded GH¢2,000 before he would restore power supply to the facility.
Mr. Bashiru, who feigned interest in paying the bribe, then begged Addai to reduce the amount being charged and he eventually settled on GH¢ 1,900 before he would restore the power supply.
The Corn Mill facility owner then informed the police, who laid ambush at where he was supposed to pay the GH¢1,900 to Addai. After a few minutes of waiting, Addai popped up at the scene with a motorbike embossed with ECG logo.
Mr. Braimah then approached Addai and when he was about to pay the GH¢1,900 to Addai the policemen, who were clad in mufti, appeared at the scene and apprehended him to assist them in investigations.
Mr. Erasmus Kyere-Baidoo described the arrest of Addai as very timely and a good omen, indicating that Addai had never worked with the ECG but he had the effrontery to go about as ECG worker to deceive unsuspecting people.
He admonished the public to always interrogate people that would visit their homes and offices as ECG staff members.
FROM I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi