Joseph Acquah, 48, who allegedly posed as an official of the Food and Drug Authority (FDA) and purportedly duped unsuspecting traders of various amounts of money, has been nabbed by the police at Sunyani, the Brong-Ahafo Regional capital.
According to the police, Acquah accused the traders of selling expired goods and drugs, arrested them and later asked them to pay penalties.
He was arrested upon tip-off after he had apprehended a herbal medicine dealer with the charge of selling expired drugs, collected an unspecified amount of money from him (trader) and asked him to report to his office for further negotiations.
Joseph, according to the police, arrested many traders and collected various amounts of money from them and issued them with fake FDA documents.
Twenty fake FDA documents were retrieved from his hideout when he was arrested.
Briefing DAILY GUIDE, BA Regional Crime Officer, Superintendent Nana Kwaku-Duah, said the regional boss of FDA, Mathew Nkoom, informed the police about reports from traders that some officials of FDA had been going round to extort moneys from them since last year.
The police, in collaboration with the officials of the authority, started investigations and finally tracked down Acquah.
He admitted the offence before the police.
The police said he would be arraigned before the court of law on three charges of extortion, forgery of official documents and posing as public officer. Police believe that Acquah has other accomplices.
He is currently in police custody awaiting prosecution.
Superintendent Nana Kwaku Duah advised the public, especially those in the Brong-Ahafo Region, to be on the lookout for unscrupulous persons and report their activities to the law enforcement agents.
From Daniel Y Dayee, Sunyani
danielyaodayee@yahoo.com