The Complainant, Ato Hamilton is a businessman residing at East Legon, Accra.
Accused persons, Albert Kwadwo Coleman and Dominic Owusu Sekyere are a marketing officer and lawyer respectively.
In June 2014, the Complainant was contacted on phone by one Samuel Yeboah that he resides in Texas in the United States of America. He stated that he had been informed that the Complainant was looking for a parcel of land to purchase at Cantonments and its environs and that his girlfriend by name, Dr Jennifer Jane Brown-Aryee was offering her 5 plots of land at Cantonments for sale. Complainant answered in affirmative.
Complainant was asked to contact one Amoah who is the agent for the sale of the land. They said Amoah called and met the Complainant and upon further discussions, he led the Complainant to Cantonments where the said parcel of land was being offered for sale.
The Complainant found out that someone was in occupation of a government bungalow on the land.
He approached the occupant and asked him of the state of affairs regarding the sale of the land. The occupant stated that, he had been served with notice to give possession to the rightful owner of the land as the owner was offering the land for sale. The Complainant demanded and collected copy of the document covering the aforementioned land. He conducted a search at the Lands Commission to find out the rightful owner ship and the authenticity of the land documents.
The search revealed that the land was registered in the name of Dr. Jennifer Jane Brown Aryee. Amoah led the Complainant to the supposed owner of the land at Cantonments. The Complainant after meeting with the said Dr Jennifer Jane Brown Aryee, demanded for the original copy of the document covering the land. Complainant was given the original copy of the document of the land and same was taken to the Land Department for confirmation. It was again confirmed that, the document with genuine.
The said Dr Jennifer Jane Brown Aryee priced the land at US$2 million. She further requested payment of deposits of an amount of US$500,000 from the Complainant. The 2nd Accused contacted the Complainant and told him that the land belonged to his client, Dr Jennifer Jane Brown Aryee. He impressed on the complainants to pay the amount involved in order for the transfer of ownership to be affected in his name. On 4th July, 2015, the said Dr. Jennifer Jane Brown Aryee led the Complainant to the Second accused. The Second Accused prepared the contract of sale and collected an amount of $200,000 on behalf of his client Dr. Jennifer Jane Brown Aryee, and same was signed by parties.
The Complainant asked the Second Accused to keep the amount of money for further directives. A week after paying the money, the Complainant received a phone call from the First Accused that he had arrived in the country for a funeral, and requested the Complainant to give him an amount of GH₵3000. The same day, the Complainant directed the First Accused to his residence at East Legon, where he collected the money from him. Two weeks later, the Second Accused started pressurizing the Complainant to pay an amount of $300,000 to him to add to the initial deposit as his client was in need of funds. The behaviour of the Second Accused and his accomplices became suspicious to the Complainant.
The Complainant upon further investigations realised that he had been defrauded. It came to light that, the rightful owner of the land was living outside the country and that, she had no idea of the sale of a property in question. It was reported to the police for investigation. The Second Accused when he was arrested, admitted the offence in his caution statement and further stated that, he could not assist in tracing his accomplices. When he was quizzed, he stated that he released the money to his accomplice Dr. Â Jennifer Jane Brown Aryee.
Police investigation has however revealed that the first, second, third and fourth Accused persons conspired to defraud the complainant. Information led the rest of the First Accused who was in custody of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI), for a similar offence.
The Complainant identified the first Accused as one of the people who defrauded him. Further investigations revealed that the First and Third Accused persons gave fake names to the complainant as Samuel Yeboah and Amoah instead of their real names, Albert Kwadwo Coleman and John Arthur, respectively in a bid to outwit the Complainant.
The other accused persons, John Arthur alias Amoah and Dr. Jennifer Jane Brown Aryee are still at large.
Source: Ghanajustice/F.Kyeremanteng
