Two people arrested for allegedly impersonating a Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, have been granted GH₵100,000 bail.
This was after they pleaded not guilty to six counts of allegedly defrauding unsuspecting Ghanaians.
The two, Promise Ahorgah, a phone repairer, and Kwaotse Mawuli, a building construction labourer, are said to have created social media accounts in the name of the North Tongue MP to solicit funds on behalf of victims affected by the Akosombo and Kpong Dam spillage.
In court on Wednesday, February 14, 2024, the lawyers of the accused, led by Simon Animley, prayed to the court for bail after his client pleaded not guilty.
Assistant State Attorney Derek Ackah Nyamekye, who was holding a brief substantive prosecution, and Watkins Adama, a state attorney, opposed the grant of bail.
However, Justice Lydia Osei Marfo admitted them to bail in the sum of GHc50,000 each, with a surety each to be justified.
As part of their bail conditions, they are to report to the case investigator once every Friday for two weeks.
The accused and the sureties, the court said, should deposit their Ghana cards in the registry of the court.
They were arrested on December 13 and were remanded into the custody of the National Signals Bureau pending further investigation.
The counts comprised two counts each of defrauding by false pretences, charlatanic advertisement, and falsely pretending to be a public officer.
Per the brief facts of the case, the complainant is the Member of Parliament for North Tongu and a resident of Accra.
It states that the first accused person is a mobile phone repairer, while the second accused person is a building construction labourer.
The prosecution said that following the Akosombo and Kpong dam spillage and the flooding of certain parts of the Volta Region, the complainant developed a flyer with the inscription ‘North Tongu MP’s Disaster Donation Drive,’ with a short code of *713*75#, requesting good Samaritans to donate in aid of the flood victims.
The prosecution stated that the 1st and 2nd accused persons, with intent to defraud, took copies of the complainant’s flyer on Facebook, modified the flyer, and inserted their respective phone numbers in the modified flyer.
“Holding themselves out as the complainant and causing the general public to wrongly believe they were the complainant, the 1st and 2nd accused persons published the fake and deceitful flyers on social media platforms requesting the general public to make cash donations into their mobile phone numbers 0535623416 and 0535364971, respectively, which each of the accused persons had stated on the fake and deceitful flyers,” the prosecution said.
The brief facts added that the 1st and 2nd accused persons again used the names and photographs of the complainant to create several social media accounts, personified the MP, and communicated with several people to solicit donations into their mobile money accounts.
“Through their acts of personation and publication of deceitful advertisements with the intent to defraud, the 1st and 2nd accused persons succeeded in causing members of the public to send to them sums of money,” the court was told.
The prosecution said, the complainant, who chanced on the fake flyer on social media, petitioned the National Signals Bureau and the accused persons were arrested.
“Both the 1st and 2nd accused persons admitted to the offences when interrogated. The investigation is still ongoing,” the prosecution said.