Police recruitment scam leader arrested; faces court on Oct 4

The police have arrested a 21-year-old man suspected to be the leader of a police recruitment scam.

The suspect, Frank Fenuku Junior, was arrested at Madina Zongo Junction in the La Nkwantanang Municipality on 27 September 2021.

The suspect conspired with others to defraud unsuspecting victims of their money under the pretext of allocating protocol slots for them in the ongoing police recruitment.

A statement signed by the Deputy Public Relations Officer of the Volta Regional Police Command Inspector Prince Dogbatse said Fenuku admitted to being the mastermind behind a false Facebook account aimed at defrauding interested applicants.

His three accomplices were earlier arrested on 14 September 2021, over the same fraudulent Facebook publication purported to have been created by the Volta Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Edward Oduro Kwateng, seeking to assist potential applicants in being enlisted into the service.

The three accomplices — Bernard Amenyah, 18; Godsway Adzikah, 23; and Godson Wemegah — are already on trial at the Ho Circuit Court.

Fenuku is expected to face the court on 4 October 2021.

Meanwhile, the Volta Regional Police Command has assured that it will continue to deal with all persons involved in the crime.

Social media scams over recruitment into the security services has been persistent and worse during recruitment exercises.

Early this year, a police officer, Sergeant Kennedy Asomani, was hauled before the Accra Circuit Court for duping 44 persons of GH¢100,000 with the promise of enlisting them into the service. The case is still pending in court.

Ahead of the recruitment exercise for the police this year, the administration issued a stern warning to fraudsters who target job seekers to stay off its upcoming recruitment process.

The acting Director-General of the Public Affairs Directorate of the service, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Kwesi Ofori, had said in an interview that “any fraudster who wants to take advantage of the publication of the Ghana Police Service 2021 recruitment process to swindle people will be dealt with ruthlessly according to the law.”

He urged interested parties seeking to join the service to be vigilant and report any scammer who used illegitimate means and social media platforms in an attempt to swindle unsuspecting people.

“The public must be wary of advertisers or persons requesting an upfront fee for processing your applications. A genuine advertiser or employer will not ask you for money.

“The fraudsters also request for money transfer. Nobody should part with money through any middleman to facilitate his or her recruitment into the police service,” ACP Ofori said.

He said the public must also take note of scammers who requested non-work-related personal information, such as “your appearance or marital status”.

“A recruiter should only need to meet the general requirements specified in the publication,” he added.

He reiterated that the police had not contracted any middleman for recruitment processes.

“Any person who claims to be selling recruitment forms should be ignored. We are not selling any recruitment forms for the process,” he cautioned.

The government recently gave clearance for the recruitment of personnel into the various security agencies.

The Ghana Police Service was cleared to employ about 5,000.