Impersonating Oppong Nkrumah, 2 other ministers: Woman still unable to meet bail conditions

The 31-year-old woman, who allegedly impersonated some ministers of state to defraud some individuals to the tune of GH¢10,277 under the pretext of securing them jobs in public institutions has not been able to meet the bail conditions given by the Accra Circuit Court.

Consequently, the accused, Vivian Sajida Imran who was granted bail by the court in the sum of GH¢12,000 with two sureties, one of which must be a public officer earning not less than GH¢1,500 a month, is still in police custody.

She is said to have operated with her husband, Prince Joel, who is currently on the run, and allegedly impersonated the Minister of Information, Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah; the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ms Shirley Ayorkor Botchway; and the Deputy Minister of National Security, Mr Henry Quartey.

Sajida Imran has pleaded not guilty to all eight counts of pretending to be a public officer, contrary to section 237 of the Criminal Offences Act (Act 29) of 1960 and defrauding by false pretence contrary to section 131(1) of the Criminal Offences Act (Act 29) of 1960 with the explanation that it was her husband who used her mobile phone for the alleged fraudulent transactions.

Meanwhile, the prosecution said efforts were being made to finish its investigations in order to serve the accused person’s lawyer and the court with all necessary documents needed for the trial after the investigations.

The court, presided over by Justice Emmanuel Esaandoh, further adjourned the case to June 17.

Facts

Per the facts of the case, Ms Sajida Imran and her husband are said to have used photographs of the three ministers of state to create multiple Facebook accounts and pretended to be the personalities behind the names.

The prosecutor, Detective Sergeant Frederick Sarpong, said both Ms Sajida Imran and Prince Joel, in their online chats and phone calls with the victims, assured the victims that they could secure them employments at the Tema Oil Refinery, Ghana Gas Company and COCOBOD.

The couple, according to the prosecutor, requested the victims to pay various amounts through mobile money accounts for application forms and interviews.

Detective Sergeant Sarpong said the money was paid into various MTN mobile money accounts and were later transferred to the accused person’s Mtn mobile money number.

The ministers of state, who later had wind of the act, informed National Security upon which Ms Sajida Imran and her husband were tracked to their house at Ashaiman where she was arrested.

Mr Joel managed to escape.

Search

The prosecutor said a search conducted in their rooms by the police revealed six mobile phones, including those bearing the numbers used to receive the money from the victims.

He said the police further sought an order from the court for forensic examination on the retained mobile phones where it was established that one of the Mtn mobile money numbers that received amounts was registered in Ms Sajida Imran’s name.

He said the accused, in her caution statement, admitted being the owner of the MTN number.