Girl remanded in GH¢256,000 visa fraud case
An Accra Circuit Court has remanded into police custody a 45-year-old lady, Faustina Foli, who allegedly defrauded an insurance coverage officer of GH¢265,000.
Foli, who’s unemployed, is accused of deceiving the complainant by promising to safe a United States visa and three Canadian visas however didn’t ship.
She has been charged with defrauding by false pretences and has pleaded not responsible.
The court docket, presided over by Mr. Isaac Addo, rejected a bail utility made by the protection counsel, Mr. Chris Akummey, after the prosecution opposed it.
The prosecution argued that Foli had beforehand jumped bail after being granted bail by the Weija Circuit Court.
As a consequence, the court docket denied bail and ordered the prosecution to file their disclosures inside two weeks.
The case was adjourned to December 24, 2024.
The prosecution additionally identified that Foli had dedicated the identical offense whereas on bail, resulting in her re-arrest.
Chief Inspector Jonas Lawer, who represented the prosecution, recounted that Foli and her lawyer had supplied conflicting addresses and famous that the defendant had beforehand absconded whereas going through comparable expenses.
In response, Mr. Akummey, the protection counsel, requested the court docket to rethink the bail utility.
He denied the accusation that Foli was Togolese, stating that she was a local of the Volta Region and had members of the family current in court docket.
Mr. Akummey argued that Foli had dedicated the offense with out totally understanding its penalties.
“I am on bended knees praying for bail because my client has been in custody for more than 10 days,” he pleaded.
The prosecution’s case revealed that the complainant, Daniel Acquay, an insurance coverage officer residing at Bortianor, grew to become concerned within the fraudulent scheme after Faustina Foli, a resident of Ablekuma, approached him in October 2024.
Foli claimed that her fiancé, one Charles Agbele, labored on the Canadian High Commission and was facilitating the issuance of Canadian and U.S. visas at a lowered price and with much less trouble.
Foli confirmed the complainant copies of Canadian visas, which she claimed have been obtained by her fiancé for different candidates.
Convinced by this, Acquay expressed curiosity in securing Canadian and U.S. visas for his daughter and three different relations.
He then handed over varied sums of cash totaling GH¢265,000 to Foli for the visas.
Foli promised to ship the visas inside a month. However, after receiving the cash and passports from the candidates, she went into hiding, and all makes an attempt to succeed in her proved unsuccessful.
Suspecting fraud, Acquay reported the matter to the police.
In her warning assertion, Foli admitted to accumulating the cash, stating that she had been instructed by Charles Agbele to provide the funds to at least one “Kojo.”
However, Foli failed to offer the police with helpful details about Kojo to help their investigation.
The prosecution additionally revealed that they have been extending their investigation to the Canadian High Commission to confirm whether or not Charles Agbele was, actually, employed there.
Additionally, Foli had initially claimed to be a Togolese nationwide.
However, when searched, a Ghana Card was discovered on her, and it was additionally found that she didn’t have a set deal with.
Source: GNA
