Businessman in court for visa fraud

A businessman, Saeed Shereef Abdul Mumin, has been granted a GH₵35,500 bail as he answers charges for allegedly defrauding two siblings with the promise of securing their visas and work permits in Dubai.

The accused pleaded not guilty to the charge of defrauding by false pretences when he appeared before the Accra Circuit Court on Monday.

The victims lost GH₵35,500 in the fraud, the Daily Graphic reported.
However, the court, presided over by Ms Afia Owusu Appiah, granted him bail in the sum of GH₵35,500 with two sureties.

Presenting the facts of the case, the prosecutor, Chief Inspector Simon Apiosornu, said somewhere in 2018, Munin promised to secure visas and work for the two complainants, who lived in Accra.

The brother of the victims, who lives in Dubai, paid an amount of $6,200, the equivalent of GH₵35,500 to Mumin. The accused allegedly promised that within six months, the visas and working permits would be ready to enable the two siblings join their brother in Dubai.

According to the prosecutor, in November 2018, Mumin informed the victims that their visas and all the requisite travelling documents were ready for them to embark on the journey, scheduled for November 22, 2018.

He indicated that, “on the scheduled date of travelling, the two victims met Mumin at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) in their anticipation to travel to Dubai as promised, but to their dismay, Mumin gave them some flimsy excuse and asked them to go back for him to rectify some anomalies on their documentation before they could embark on their journey.”

Chief Inspector Apiosornu, said the two victims went home disappointed and waited for some months, but they did not see any progress.
When he(accused) was confronted, the prosecutor said, “the accused told them to relax.”

At this stage, the two siblings realised that Mumin was out to dupe them and reported the matter to the police which led to his arrest.

Meanwhile, the accused, during interrogation and in his caution statement, confirmed collecting the money from the complainants, but failed to honour his promise due to late payment.

The prosecutor stated that the Mumin pleaded with the police to be given time to rectify the anomaly and enable him to secure the visas on time for the victims.

The prosecutor further said, as part of investigations, the police sought to determine and verify the authenticity of Mumin’s operations at the Registrar General’s Department and Labour Department.

According to Chief Inspector Apiosornu, responses from both institutions revealed that although Mumin’s business was registered at the Labour Department, as of May 2017, the government had suspended all recruitment of labour to the Gulf regions.

The hearing continues on April 16, 2020.