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The man alleged to be the kingpin behind the police recruitment scandal has been arrested by the police.

The Finder can confirm that Mr Joseph Seidu Awuni, the man said to be the co-ordinator of the police recruitment scandal, was arrested in Accra Monday night.

The Special Investigations Taskforce (SIT) undertaking the investigations into the scandal arrested Mr Awuni in Accra.

According to information, the suspects arrested in connection with the scam named Mr Awuni as the co-ordinator.

The investigators searched the various places Mr Awuni has been to for evidence.

He is being grilled by investigators to ascertain his role in the whole scam. 

The police describe his arrest as a breakthrough in their efforts to unravel the scam.

On Monday, the Police Administration has ordered the bank accounts of Commissioner of Police (COP) Patrick Timbillah, who was implicated by suspects, to be frozen until investigations into his alleged involvement in the police recruitment scam are completed.

Reports indicate that COP Timbillah allegedly has about GH₵1 million in two private accounts.

Police Public Affairs Director, DCOP David Ampah Benin said the taskforce has evidence of text messages and other correspondence between victims of the fraud and the implicated Timbillah.

Over 200 unsuspecting 'recruits' gathered at various police training centres across the country after showing admission letters purportedly signed by  COP Timbillah, but he denies the signature.

Immediate investigations launched into the incident resulted in the arrest of several persons.

Out of the suspects arrested, two of them – identified as Aisha Asumda, alias Aisha Boku Masi, a 36-year-old shea butter seller suspected to be the mastermind of the scam, and her accomplice, Alifa Adams, alias Abass, a 27-year-old unemployed – were arrested at Tesano and Adenta respectively, following a tip-off.

The five other suspects apprehended at various locations across the country include Amos Brown, 40, a radio presenter; General Corporal Gideon Sarpong of the Visibility Unit of the Ghana Police Service, Takoradi; and Constable Ruth Agyiri, 27, of the Central Police Station, Koforidua.

The rest are Pastor Paul Danso from Tarkwa and Richard Harrison, 30.

Two officers who were among the people arrested are said to have named COP Timbillah as an accomplice.  

The Police Administration has expressed surprise at the sophistication and magnitude of the recent fake police recruitment scandal.

It said the Special Investigations Taskforce (SIT) undertaking the investigations, which is under the direct leadership and supervision of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), would do everything possible to establish the culprits behind that act.

December 24, 2014 arrests

Investigators have discovered GH¢138,410 in two separate bank accounts of two persons involved in a GH¢1.2 million police recruitment fraud.

The suspects are believed to own accounts in several banks, and investigators are appealing to all banks in the country to co-operate to enable them retrieve the monies.

The investigators found GH¢115,000 in the account of Joseph Awuni, who is at large, while an amount of GH¢23,410 was discovered in an account belonging to Aisha Asumda, alias Aisha Boku Masi.

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service arrested Aisha Asumda and her two male accomplices – Joshua Palba, 35, and Ariel Lamptey, 21, both unemployed living in Accra – for collecting GH¢1.2 million from more than 300 people under the pretext of enlisting them into the Ghana Police Service.

Investigators wondered how Asumda, aged 36, a shea butter seller, and Joseph Awuni could deposit such an amount in their accounts without the banks questioning the source of the money.

According to investigators, Asumda has withdrawn part of the money, leaving GH¢23,410 in the account.

When a search was conducted on them following their arrests, GH¢58,500 was retrieved. The amount is believed to be part of monies collected from the victims.

The police also retrieved from the suspects forged letters of the ‘Offer of Enlistment into the Ghana Police Service,’ with an attached list of training prospectus addressed to various victims.

There were also letters requesting the victims to report at the various police training schools on January 31, 2015.

Majority of the victims were graduates from the three northern regions and wives of military men working at the 37 Military Hospital, as well as other members of the public.

According to the Director-General of the CID, Commissioner of Police (COP) Mr Prosper Agblor, the three were arrested at the 37 Military Hospital on Wednesday, December 24, 2014, where they had gone to collect more money from some of their victims who worked at the hospital.

COP Agblor said somewhere in November 2014, Aisha Asumda and her accomplices loaded their victims in three VIP buses and conveyed them to the Winneba Police Command and Staff College to start their training.

He said on their arrival at Winneba, the victims realised there was no recruit training programme taking place at the college so they continued their journey to the National Police Training School in Accra, but they were told once again that no recruits were expected at the training school.

All this while, the suspects kept assuring their victims of their entry into the Police Service, mentioning the names of senior police officers, including the Director-General/Human Resource Department, as the persons they were working for.

COP Agblor said since September 2014, the Human Resource Department of the Ghana Police Service had been receiving calls from individuals all over the country enquiring about an ongoing enlistment exercise.

He said intelligence gathered over the period indicated that Asumda, while on her shea butter trading business in the three northern regions, started spreading the rumour.

He said Asumda made representations to the effect that there was an ongoing exercise to enlist people from the three northern regions and the Volta Region into the Ghana Police Service and that she was responsible for the exercise.

The CID Director said Aisha further claimed that the enlistment was in two categories: the first category was for first degree holders who were to pay GH¢7,000 to be enlisted into the officer corps of the service; the second category was for senior high school leavers, who were to pay GH¢4,000 to be enlisted as recruits into the service.

Mr Agblor said between September and December 2014, the suspects, together with the one at large, managed to collect various sums of monies from the victims.

He said on December 24, 2014, the Police Surveillance team arrested the suspects at the 37 Military Hospital, where they had gone to receive additional money from some of their victims, who were wives of soldiers working at the hospital.