Money Doublers, Public Adverts & State Silence

THE NEW PUBLISHER has observed an increase in the number of persons advertising themselves on public radio and television as “money doublers”, while state agencies watch unconcerned, as though they were giving a subtle endorsement to the claims of the fraudulent advertisers.

Such con men and women, who claim they can double whatever amount of money,  do not hide their addresses, contact numbers or even their faces, yet the every state agency has over the years watched in silence as several unsuspecting Ghanaians fall victim to the fraudsters advertising on public media space.

Clearly, this is an issue of  financial and economic crimes being aided by a section of the media while state agencies smile in glee with no shame or a feeling of being irresponsible.

There are a good number of Ghanaians who are not informed on what the  laws say about wonder banks and money doublers. There are also a lot of  vulnerable Ghanaians who place credibility on any announcement, information or advertisement they hear on radio or on television.

Such persons, based on the unrestrained public advertisements by these money doublers on Ghanaian television and radio stations, are  lured into parting with huge sums of money on  daily bases,

The relevant state agencies, and their respective heads, cannot pretend to be unaware. Their silence and inaction is shameful.

Perhaps they are overly elitist in their thinking and therefore are of the view that sanitizing the financial sector  only means targeting micro financial institutions and ailing banks.

They have completely left out these voodoo-money merchants and all manner of self-acclaimed spiritualists involved in plain thievery and financial fraud with their money doubling claims.

If the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), for instance, can issue a directive to ban both advertisement and Live Presenter Mention(LPM)of alcoholic beverages in the media before 8pm, and further place a complete ban on the advertisement of food and drugs that have not been vetted and approved, then the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Bank of Ghana, the Ministry of Finance and the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) should be responsible enough to issue public directives against the public advertisement of voodoo-money merchants and money doublers.

Financial crime is financial crime whether it is being committed by a so-called spiritualist or a teenage boy with sagged jeans in down town Accra engaged in internet fraud.

The New Publisher is calling for a concerted effort with a sense of urgency by the relevant state agencies and institutions to stop these lawless fraudsters who have the impunity to advertise their illegal activities on public radio and television as if they were involved in a legal business.