The suspect, Dickson Kodjo Tsekpo, a Ghanaian resident in Togo, is said to have defrauded his victim under the pretext of helping her buy 50 kilogrammes of gold after which he would help process documents for the shipment of the mineral to Hong Kong.

Tsekpo is said to have been introduced to the victim by phone as a small-scale miner in Ghana by a Togolese based in Hong Kong whose name was given only as Pierre.

Money collected

Briefing the Daily Graphic, the Director of the Cyber Crime Unit of the CID, Chief Superintendent of Police Dr Herbert Gustav Yankson, said the victim, who was an intermediary for merchants of mineral resources in Hong Kong, contacted Tsekpo in 2015 to help her buy and ship 50 kilogrammes of gold to a client in Hong Kong.

He said investigations revealed that in September 2016, Tsekpo lured the victim and her business development manager (name withheld) to Ghana and showed them some pieces of shiny bars purported to be samples of gold.

Tsekpo is said to have introduced his accomplice, Nana Wilhelmina Amponsah, to the victim and her partner as the supplier of the 50 kilogrammes of gold that was prepared for shipment.

Tsekpo and his accomplice then collected $2,000 from the victim and later received about $13,000 through money transfers to facilitate the purchase and shipment of the gold.

However, after receiving the money, Tsekpo and Wilhelmina did not deliver the mineral on the scheduled date.

Deception

At a point, the police said, Tsekpo told the victim that the gold consignment had arrived in Dubai and that he needed to travel to Dubai to finalise the shipment processes to Hong Kong.

The victim is said to have purchased an airline ticket for Tsekpo to travel from Ghana to Dubai, but he gave flimsy excuses and failed to travel to Dubai as scheduled.

Mr Yankson said the victim realised that she had been swindled when she found out there was no gold consignment in the name of her client in Dubai and, therefore, lodged a complaint with the CID.

When Tsekpo was arrested on December 25, 2016, he told the police that his accomplice was in Dubai.

Mr Yankson said efforts were underway to have Nana Amponsah arrested, while investigations into the case continued.