Immigration Service Arrests Fake ‘Recruitment Officer’

The Ghana Immigration Service has arrested 20-year-old, Justice Mensah, for defrauding persons seeking enlistment into the service.

Mr. Mensah created fake social media accounts and posed as the Comptroller General of the Immigration Service, Kwame Asuah Takyi.

He demanded thousands of cedis from his victims while assuring them of getting them enlisted in the service without stress.

Speaking to Citi News on the arrest, the Public Affairs Director of GIS Supt. Amoako Attah, warned the public against such acts.

“With our current recruitment drive, we realized that fraudsters were taking advantage of some members of the public by posing as Immigration Officers to dupe them so we set our intelligence unit into motion and we’ve been working behind the scene. On Tuesday, we were able to arrest one of them and we got two victims who came in to confirm that they made various payments to him which he has confirmed in his caution statement. We will build a docket and hand him over the police for criminal prosecution,” he said.

He further urged the public to be vigilant and ensure they follow only the officially advertised recruitment steps rather than go through unscrupulous persons.

The Immigration Service, like other security agencies in the country, consistently have to deal with unscrupulous persons who seek to capitalize on the desperation of persons seeking enlistment to defraud them by posing as high-level officials of the Service, and promising to secure them enlistment after payment of various sums of money.

Although the citizenry has been advised on several occasions to be alert to such criminal activities, many people continue to fall victim to it.

In February 2018, a self-styled businessman was thrown into jail for three years for defrauding a trader in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region.

Frank Jerry Osei, who plied his trade in Kumasi is said to have defrauded Eva Gyansah to the tune of GH¢3,000 under the pretence of securing a position for her daughter in the Ghana Immigration Service.

He was sentenced by the Bekwai Circuit Court after he pleaded guilty to the charges of defrauding by false pretense and impersonation.