A self-styled businessman who used the name of the late President John Evans Atta Mills to dupe a manufacturing company of GHc 40,000 has been arrested by the police.
The suspect, Fred Kpoha alias captain Fred, was alleged to have presented a letter signed by P. V. Obeng as a Council of State member and chairman of the Kpando Orphanage in order to win the confidence of the company.
A search conducted on him after his arrest revealed six copies of forged letterheads bearing the names of Mr Henry Martey Newman, a former Chief of Staff and Mr Alex K. Segbefia his deputy.
According to the Public Relations Officer of the Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service, ASP Joseph B. Darkwa on April 23 2013, the suspect used the letterhead captioned �From the office of the President� and wrote to the company that the Kpando Orphanage, established by the late president was in distress and that it urgently needed GHc 40,000 for the medical treatment for a hole-in-heart patient at the orphanage.
He told the company that the orphanage was being managed by the late President Mills and it had Mr P. V. Obeng as its chairman but since the demise of the president, the orphanage had run into difficulties.
The PRO said the suspect further gave the company a telephone number, 0244053503, purported to belong to Mr Obeng and left with the promise that he would return later.
The company knew Mr P.V Obeng was not a member of the Council of State so it sent the letter to the police for authentication and it turned out that the letter was fake.
DSP Darkwa said the police advised the company to call the suspect to come for the money, some T-shirts and other souvenirs. The suspect was subsequently arrested when he turned up.
He said upon interrogation the suspect admitted to the offence, claiming that Francis Opoku who works at the headquarters of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) gave him the letterheads.
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