Former Member of Parliament (MP) for Wulensi Constituency in Northern Region, Thomas Donkor Ogajah has been arrested by police for allegedly defrauding a scrap dealer.
The former lawmaker has been charged with defrauding by false pretence based on section 131 of the Criminal Offence Act of 1960, (Act 29) involving an amount of 38,600 belonging to the scrap dealer
The former legislator has also been charged with fraudulent breach of trust based on section 128, of the Criminal Offences Act of 1960, (Act 29) also involving an amount of GH¢57,000 belonging to the scrap dealer Yussif Osman.
Facts obtained revealed that on September 17, 2021, the suspect, former MP for Wulensi, met complainant Yussif Osman at the Ministry of Interior in Accra.
The complainant was introduced to the suspect by one Mr Kareem, an errand boy of the aforementioned suspect, that the complainant Yussif Osman was in a scrap business and needed assistance to buy scraps from the Ministry of Railways.
The suspect immediately promised to assist the complainant and asked him to make a commitment of some money to enable him to buy the scraps.
Even though they did not agree on a specific amount, on their second meeting, on another day, the complainant gave, GH¢5000 as an advanced payment to the former MP to start with the acquisition of the scraps.
The suspect, after collecting the money, promised the complainant that, he knew former Minister of Railways Development Joe Ghartey, and also current Minister for Railways Development John Peter Amewu.
The suspect claimed he had contacted them to assist them buy the scraps in large quantities.
Thereafter, he asked the complainant to make subsequent payments of unspecified amounts to enable him to influence the aforementioned Ministers for him to easily acquire the scraps.
The complainant made payment bit by bit, to the total tune of an amount of GH¢38,600.
The second issue being handled by the police had to do with fraudulent breach of trust, as the second charge preferred against the former legislator.
Out of the complainant’s own efforts, he was able to get a scrap deal from a Chinese company called Geo-engineering Corporation located at Aveyima, in the Volta Region.
He bargained and arrived at a price of GH¢330,000 for scraps involving 7 tipper trucks, and two concrete mixer machines for outright buying.
Due to a lack of money to finance the deal, he once again fell on suspect Thomas Donkor Ogajah for assistance to enable him to buy the scraps.
The suspect could not raise the money himself but contacted a family friend at Agbogbloshie, who was able to finance the deal.
Having acquired the said scraps, for business purposes, they sold it at the price of GH¢500,000, therefore making a profit of GH¢170,000.
Before the transaction, the three parties, thus, complainant, suspect, and financier, had agreed that any profit made would be equally shared among the parties.
Unfortunately, the suspect diverted the profit and deposited it into his personal account following the successful execution of the scraps transaction, and failed to give the complainant (Yussif Osman) as earlier agreed by the parties, his share.
The complainant subsequently went through a serious financial crisis, thereby pleading with the suspect to raise money for him to restart his scrap business.
Until July 21, 2023, when he gathered courage and took a bold decision to seek legal assistance from law enforcement agencies and therefore reported the case at the Legon Police Station.
Police then acted swiftly and on August 5, 2023, and the suspect was arrested.
Checks at the police station revealed that the suspect did not deny the allegations made against him.
He has therefore been charged formally with the offences of defrauding by false pretence, based on section 131 of the Criminal Offence Act of 1960 (Act 29).
He was also charged with fraudulent breach of trust, but he was granted bail to be arraigned before a court of competent jurisdiction very soon.
The case is still under investigation by the police.
source: Graphic Online
