A miner, Harry Borter, who allegedly defrauded a businessman to the tune of GH¢55,000 under the pretext of acquiring visas for him and his friends to go to Canada and work, has been arrested and arraigned before court.
He was put in a court presided over by Mrs Afi Agbaney Kudamor and charged with defrauding by false pretences. He pleaded not guilty and has been granted bail in the sum of GH¢10,000 with two sureties while the case has been adjourned to December 11, 2015.
The facts of the case as presented by the prosecuting officer, Patrick Hanson, are that the complainant is Philip Otchere, a Kumasi resident, while the accused person is a miner who also lives in Kumasi.
According to the police officer, in February 2015 the suspect approached the complainant and told him that he had a friend called Maxwell who was a Canadian who had a mining contract in Canada.
The officer said the suspect said his friend wanted to recruit some Ghanaians to go to Canada and work there and added that based on the suspect’s story, the complainant contacted nine other persons who expressed interest in working abroad.
In addition, he noted that the nine persons gave various amounts totalling GH¢55,000 to the complainant, who then handed them to the accused person to enable him acquire Canadian visas to enable them travel.
He said the suspect, after taking the money, went into hiding, compelling the complainant to report the matter to the police. He was arrested at his hideout in Kintampo.
He said during interrogation the miner said he gave GH¢43,000 to the said Maxwell to help acquire the visas for the nine persons.
According to him, the suspect also told police that because the said friend bolted with the money, he invested the remaining amount to enable him refund the whole amount.
The prosecutor said the suspect failed to lead police to the said Maxwell and investigations later revealed that the miner invested the money in his business.
He said Borter was arraigned after police concluded investigations.
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