The security agencies have busted 12 persons for their alleged involvement in an international scam.
The 12, made up of different nationalities, were operating from their base at Dunkunah in Accra.
They were picked up by officers from the Defence and Intelligence Unit of the Ghana Armed Forces and officers from the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) from their operational hideout.
The suspects, according to the security agencies, had succeeded in duping people of millions of dollars in a syndicated fraud.
The suspects, who are currently in the custody of the BNI as part of further investigations and prosecution, are Mohammed Sallam Mohammed, a Libyan, Hassam Mohammed a Chadian, Mariam Abdallah, a Malian, Mobasil Samfo, a Burkinabe as well as Derrick Salome, Alhaji Adams Jibrim, and Alhaji Yakubu both Ghanaians.
Intelligence:
The Deputy Director of Public Affairs at the Ghana Armed Forcest, Andy Any-Anyane, told Graphic Online that the security agents conducted the operation after gathering enough intelligence about the operations of the suspects.
The team mounted surveillance over the movement of the people for a while and when they were convinced that they were involved in illegal deals, they moved in to effect the arrest on Saturday, September 28, 2019.
Modus Operandi:
Any-Anyane explained that the fraud syndicate’s method of operation was that they invited their victims, who were mostly foreigners, to inspect containers which were allegedly loaded with cash with the claim that it belonged to the late former Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi.
The containers, he said were kept at a warehouse which was in the house from where the suspects operated at Dunkunah.
He said bundles of dollars were seen in the containers on first sight, but beneath the surface was several bags of cement to deceive their victims.
He said the victims on seeing the containers and the supposed cash, were then baited to part with some initial deposits before the money in the containers could be transferred into their accounts.
The latest to have fallen victim to the syndicate said to have started in 2013 were a Belgian and a Brazilian who parted with sums of foreign currencies.
Details of the suspects’ banks accounts, the Deputy Director of the Public Affairs Unit of the GAF, said indicated that more than US$1.3 million had been deposited into the accounts between July and September, this year.
–Graphic.com.gh