MICHAEL ANUMU IN A ANOTHER RECRUITMENT SCAM

…nearly 600 more defrauded nationwide of GHC 167,960.00

Michael Hope Amunu, the suspect

Nearly six hundred (600) more job seekers largely made up of youth from various parts of the country have allegedly fallen for the antics of Michael Hope Anumu, the 32-year-old man who is currently standing trial at the Odumase-Krobo Circuit Court for masterminding a recruitment scam that hit the Krobo area recently.

In this latest episode of what seems to be his stock in trade, Michael is said to have defrauded five hundred and eighty eight (588) people from different parts of the country to the tune of One Hundred and Sixty Seven Thousand, Nine Hundred and Sixty Cedis (GHC 167, 960.00). 

The case which was reported at the Koforidua Central Police Station in September 2014 is currently pending before the Koforidua Circuit Court B.

Background:

In September 2014, three of the victims, Messer Victor Tandor, a teacher aged 40; John Komong also a 46 year old teacher and Samuel Oppong, a 40 year old engineer lodged a complaint with the Koforidua Central Police about how they were individually defrauded and lured by the accused, Amunu, into recruiting friends and other professionals from across the regions for employment in a pharmaceutical company that was about to be established in the country.

According to Tandor and Komong, the accused (Amunu) joined them on the staff at the Asesewa Community DA Basic School during the 2011/2012 academic year and taught in class 3 until he vacated post in 2014.

During the said period, Amunu told the two about his sojourn in South Africa and his close ties with one Dr. Knelah Zies, a South African Medical Practitioner and investor, who was set to set up a pharmaceutical company here in Ghana.  

According to the victims, the accused told them about the visit of a 5-member South African delegation which was in town working together with the Ministry of Information and also the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the preliminary works in the lead up to the establishment of the company.

They said Amunu told them the delegation had earlier met with the President, the then Chief of Staff and officials from the Bank of Ghana (BOG) who arranged a successful transfer of the funds needed for the project.

Recruitment and training:

They indicated that Amunu (who by that time had become a good friend of theirs on the same staff) played on their trust and got them to recruit some of their friends from diverse professional backgrounds for a three-month training and subsequent employment.

The recruitment started locally in and around the Krobo area (mainly at Asesewa) in 2013 but took a wider dimension with time, with the team moving to other regions prospecting for persons with the desired qualification as specified by the accused.

This culminated in the recruitment of 588 professionals from varying background including accountants, pharmacists, caterers, pastors, nurses, engineers and various artisans including welders, vulcanizers, masons, electricians and factory hands etc.

Search for lands for the project:

Together with Amunu, they also went prospecting for suitable sites for the establishment of the company, the headquarters of which was to be located at Nsawam, with branches planned for Tamale, Kumasi, Techiman, and Koforidua.

According to them, the team eventually located parcels of lands in some of these areas and covering documents were prepared to that effect. That, according to the complainants, was how Samuel Oppong, (the third of the complainants), came into the picture, bringing on board his expertise as an engineer, then working with the Lower Manya Krobo Municipal Assembly. 

By that time, nearly all the 588 victims had paid various sum of money between GHC 400.00 and GHC 1, 200.00 to facilitate the acquisition of diplomatic passports and other traveling document for those billed for the training.

The payment, among others, was also to cover what Amunu described as citizenship fee, orientation fee, cost of Ebola medical screening as well as the opening of accounts and the creation of credit cards for all the travelers.

Suspicion  

In mid 2014, the three who ignorantly aided the accused started suspecting the latter because he together with the leader of the “ghost” South African delegation kept postponing the departure dates of the recruits.

They indicated that in some instance, some of the victims were made to travel from their respective regions to Accra on the directives of Amunu for preparations prior to their departure only to be given excuses on their arrival.

Suspicion heightened when in September Amunu failed to produce any document to confirm the transfer of fund to the Bank of Ghana for the commencement of the project as he had earlier indicated.

As of that time, Komong had paid to the suspect a total of GHC 107, 730.00, the sum of contributions from over 300 of the people he recruited and a personal loan of GHC 3, 100.00 which he took from the Bayport Financial Service.

Tandor, on the other hand, paid a total of GHC 28, 950.00 while Oppong parted with GHC 31, 280.00 including their personal contributions and those of the people they have recruited.

Report and arrest:

The three, Tandor, Komong and Oppong officially lodged a complaint with the Koforidua Central Police and Amunu was immediately arrested at Somanya. He was subsequently arraigned and remanded in Prison custody for three months after which he was granted bail.

Some vehicles belonging to the suspect have since been confiscated and are said to be in the custody of the police. 

They indicated however that though the court sat severally, Amunu hardly made appearance in court because his counsel, one W. H. Augustt (Esq) told the court his client was terminally ill.

Information available to the Daily Graphic indicates that a bench warrant had been issued for Amunu’s arrest.

Though the complainants had petitioned the Director General of the Criminal Investigations Department (in a letter dated December 2, 2014), they were yet to receive any official response. The case returns to court on.

Interview with Koforidua Police:

In an interview with the Police, Superintendent Kofi Blagodzi, the Prosecutor, confirmed the issuance of a bench warrant for the arrest of the suspect, adding that the action was necessitated by the evasive tactics by the latter.

“His counsel was given several chances to produce him but he failed to do so with the excuse that his client was incapacitated”.

Commenting on the seizure of Amunu’s vehicle by the police, the prosecutor noted that the courts ordered its release to the suspect who wanted the vehicle sold to enable him pay back the victims.

He however could not confirm if Amunu had come for the vehicle in question which has been with the police all this while.

Flashback:

It would be recalled that the Daily Graphic in its Monday August 1, 2016 edition reported a similar recruitment scam in the Krobo area involving the accused, Amunu, who posed as a medical doctor (aka Dr. Dickson) of the VRA hospital in Akosombo to defraud 58 youth of the area of GHC 60,000.00 under the pretext of enlisting them into the various security services. The services included the Ghana Police Service (GPS), Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) and the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS).

He was subsequently arrested and put before the Odumase-Krobo Circuit Court following complaints from one Patience Tetteh, one of the victims. He is slated to appear again in court on Wednesday September 14, 2016.