Fake Lawyer Nabbed Over GH�33,120 Fraud

A 29-year old fake lawyer, Eric Selorm Nortsu, has been remanded by the Koforidua Circuit Court for defrauding three persons of GH�33,120.00. He was said to have falsely presented himself as a qualified legal practitioner and defrauded people of the said amount with the motive of offering legal services to them. He pleaded not guilty before the court preside over by Ebenezer Osei-Darko and will reappear before court on February 20 this year. He was charged on three counts of defrauding by false pretence, impersonation and fraudulent breach of trust. Explaining the fact of the case to the court, the Prosecutor, Chief Inspector Patrick Adzadza, said that the complaints were Vera Antwia Mamoo, a nurse based in the United. Kingdom, Robert Osei Mensah Boahene, a banker who resides at Akropong Akuapem, and Gloria Agyei Boateng who resides at Betom in Koforidua. On January 2012, Mamoo gave birth in London and returned to Ghana to enjoy her maternity leave with her husband Boahene. While in Ghana, Mamoo applied for a visa for the baby to enable her travel back to U.K. with the baby but the visa was refused on the grounds that the Boahene was not travelling with them which made Mamoo lose her job. In June, 2013, based on the refusal of the visa, Mamkoo appealed to the British Human Rights Tribunal Court in London and won. As part of the ruling, the court attributed the delay to the fault of the British Embassy in Ghana for failing to forward the necessary document on time. Mamoo, however, decided to sue the Embassy for causing the delay and making her lose her job. Mamoo then contacted the Registrar at the Akropong District Magistrate Court who also recommended Nortsu as a lawyer who had been attending their court and winning his cases. Nortsu later introduced himself to Mamoo as a lawyer and charged Mamoo a sum of GH�22,320 to handle the case and also collected the ruling from the U.K. court. According to the Prosecutor, Nortsu also approached Boahene that he was handling a case in a court in Koforidua and that some exhibit money had been paid to him but he forgot to pick it to tender. Nortsu requested GH�10,000 to enable him show it to the court and that he would return the money, went into hiding and also ignored their calls. On October 13, 2013, Nortsu also succeeded in collecting a sum of GH�800.00 from Boateng and promised to offer legal services for her to secure compensation and retrieve her personal and security documents from her former employers, Melcom Company Limited, Ghana. Prosecution said Nortsu went into hiding after receiving the money from Boateng. On February 3, 2014, the complainants had a hint that Nortsu had been arrested in a similar case at Koforidua. The complainants made official complaint to the police and in Nortsu�s caution statement, he admitted having collected all those monies. During investigations, it was established that Nortsu is not a lawyer and was charged with the offence in the court.