Kofi Tweneboah, also known as ‘Jaguar’, together with two others, have allegedly defrauded a Kumasi based trader, Rita Owusu Adade of GH¢83,000 by impersonating Francis Asenso Boakye, Member of Parliament (MP) for Bantama Constituency and also the Minister for Roads and Highways.
Tweneboah allegedly committed the offences together with some individuals referred to as ‘Boozing’ and ‘Nana’. The three allegedly perpetuated the crime using deceptive practices and an unfortunate incident of assault.
Kofi Tweneboah appeared before the court, presided over by Her Honour Akosua Anokyewaa Adjapong, on Tuesday, July 23, 2024 and pleaded not guilty to the charges of defrauding by false pretence, causing harm and conspiracy to commit crimes.
The court remanded Tweneboah into police custody, upon hearing the application by the police prosecuting officer, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Isaac Babaye, that the former was a flight risk.
The accused is scheduled by the court to appear before it on August 6, 2024.
On the facts of the case, ASP Babaye informed the court that the complainant, Rita Owusu Adade, was informed by her sister, Linda Adade, residing in the United States that she has been contacted by someone, by the name Nana Kwesi, via Facebook.
Nana Kwesi, who claimed to be a successful estate mogul in Ghana, attributing his success to key political figures, specifically Francis Asenso Boakye, and allegedly convinced Linda Adade that he could facilitate travel arrangements to the USA for a conference, involving the MP.
According to the facts, the MP would need quite a number of people in his entourage to the conference in Washington DC, particularly those who want to travel abroad.
Linda also became interested and informed her sister about it, as well as posting the same information on her social media platforms to attract interested individuals to apply.
As a result, Rita collected passports and money from five unsuspecting applicants with the expectation that it would be handed over to Mr. Asenso Boakye.
Under these false pretences, Nana Kwesi extended the offer to other interested individuals, who entrusted their passports and a total of GH¢83,000 to Rita Owusu Adade.
Events took a dark turn on April 16, 2024 when Rita Owusu Adade met Kofi Tweneboah (Jaguar) and Boozing, who was dressed in a police uniform, at the Kotoka International Airport and handled over the money and the passports to them.
Suspecting foul play shortly afterwards, Rita reported the incident to the CID Headquarters.
On April 19, 2024 the police lured the accused persons to Accra and received additional money to arrange for the trip.
Jaguar and Boozing then picked up the complainant in their Toyota Hilux pickup, but upon seeing the police, they sped off and pushed her off the moving vehicle, resulting in the complainant sustaining serious injuries. She was promptly rushed to the 37 Military Hospital for medical attention.
The accused persons later abandoned the vehicle at Dzorwulo and took to their heels. The vehicle was towed to the CID headquarters on the same day for investigation.
Despite efforts by the accused to preempt legal action by returning the passports and the money through a police source on July 15, 2024 Kofi Tweneboah (Jaguar) was eventually apprehended on July 18, 2024 at Achimota Mile 7.
Kofi was rearrested and admitted the offence during interrogation and identified one of his accomplices as a police officer stationed at Amasaman and another residing in Nsawam.
