Kweku Boateng Bawa, 43, a businessman who allegedly duped eight personnel of the Nation Builders Corps (NACOB) in Ho of a total of GH¢12, 300 under the pretext of securing them permanent jobs with the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) was arraigned in the Ho Circuit Court on Wednesday.
Bawa pleaded not guilty to eight counts of defrauding by false pretence.
Chief Inspector Stephen Atidzon told the court presided over by Mr Felix Datsomor that the accused who lived in Mamprobi in Accra on June 16, last year, called the Human Resource Manager of GRA in Ho on phone and introduced himself as ‘Mr Lartey of GRA Human Resource Department, Accra,” and requested the list of NACOB personnel serving with the authority, saying that the GRA was about to recruit them as permanent staff.
The prosecution said that the Ho GRA Human Resource Manager who knew Mr Lartey at the GRA head office in Accra submitted the names of the NABCO personnel and their cellular phone numbers to the accused.
Later, the accused contacted the NABCO personnel on their phones and demanded various sums of money from them to facilitate the recruitment process, the prosecution revealed.
The court heard that the job seekers obliged and paid a total of GH¢12, 300 onto Bawa’s cellular phone account.
A few days later when the GRA Human Resource Manager in Ho called Mr Lartey in Accra to find out about the progress of the recruitment exercise, Mr Lartey expressed surprise and said that he was not aware of any exercise of that nature within the GRA.
The matter was reported to the police immediately, and after that it emerged that the accused was the one behind the scam and that he was also being tried at the same court for a similar offence, the prosecution revealed.
Based on that, Bawa was re-arrested.
The court heard that Bawa admitted the offences in his caution statement and pleaded with the police to give him time to refund the monies to his victims.
Although the court granted Bawa bail, he was not able to execute the bail bond, and so, he was sent back to police custody.
Hearing continues on April, 19.
FROM ALBERTO MARIO NORETTI, HO
