Three ladies, one a breastfeeding mother, have been arrested in Obuasi on suspicion of trafficking in counterfeit currency, and are currently supporting police in their investigation.
The suspects, who are said to be from Kumasi, were nearly lynched by enraged people at Sanso, a community in the Obuasi municipality, after attempting to defraud a mobile money vendor.
The three suspects were arraigned before the Obuasi Circuit Court on Monday, according to Obuasi District Police Commander, DSP Martin Asenso, who spoke on Akoma FM’s current affairs and politics show ‘GhanAkoma’.
“The three suspects were granted bail of GHC5,000 apiece with two sureties,” he told the show’s host. The trio remains in police prison due to their failure to comply with the bail conditions.
Modus operandi
DSP Martin Asenso explained that the suspects “usually operate at night, therefore they come with phony currency under the guise of sending e-cash to a specific number. They then pay the Momo agent with bogus cash after sending.”
He urged all Mobile Money agents to be cautious and avoid being taken advantage of by such cocky con artists.
“The irate residents would have lynched the suspects if it hadn’t been for the prompt intervention of a unit committee member for the region who rescued the culprits and hid them in his room,” a resident of Sanso, the community where the event occurred, said on the show.
“It happened over the weekend. So I was home; all what I heard was noise at the backyard. When I got to the scene, three women were held for allegedly duping a Momo vendor. They had successfully sent GHC1, 500 at a nearby agent; so after they left the agent realised their money was fake so he followed them only to realise they had stopped at another agent trying to dupe him by sending another GHC1,500. So the agent raised alarm and the residents attacked the suspects then the unit committee member intervened,” he added.
The three suspects have been identified as Eunice Sarfo, 33; Nancy Owusu, 28; and Cecelia Agyeman, 29.
According to DSP Martin Asenso, the trio will re-appear in court on Monday, February 7.
