MAN ARRESTED FOR DEFRAUDING PROSPECTIVE TENANTS (Page 28)

7/8/2008
Story: Mary Mensah

A 43-year-old estate agent who allegedly duped a number of persons under the pretext of renting out an apartment to them has been arrested by the police in Accra.
The suspect, Martin Ackah, commonly known as Mr Mensah, was arrested by security officers at the offices of the Daily Graphic, where he went to place an advert, and was later handed over to the police.
According to the Public Relations Officer of the CID, Inspector J.B. Darkwa, two men, a legal practitioner and a medical officer, both resident in Accra, came to the headquarters and reported that they had been duped by an estate agent.
He said the two men indicated that in June, 2008, the suspect made a publication in the Daily Graphic that he had a three-bedroom flat at Adenta to rent out to prospective tenants.
The suspect put telephone numbers under the publication, so the two men quickly called and expressed interest in the apartment, after which they scheduled a meeting.
After the meeting, the suspect took them on separate occasions to the house for inspection and having been satisfied with this false representation, both victims parted with GH¢7,680 cash to the suspect.
The suspect, after collecting the money, promised to hand over the keys to them the following day, but failed to turn up and subsequently switched off his cell phone and went into hiding.
All efforts to locate him proved futile until a report was made to the police who alerted the Daily Graphic to be on the lookout for the suspect.
On July 25, 2008, the suspect again sent another man to the Daily Graphic to make another publication on a house at another location, and as soon as the man entered the office, he was arrested.
He later led the police to arrest the suspect and further investigations revealed that the suspect had no flat to rent out, and that the three-bedroom flat he showed to the complainants belonged to a group of syndicates who went round making such false publications in the newspapers in order to defraud unsuspecting members of society.
In his caution statement, the suspect admitted the offence.