Ex-BNI Boss Swindles Lotto Agent

Former Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) Director, Mr J.B. Amofa, has absconded on a 53.7 million old Ghana cedis debt that he accrued playing the National Lotto in Dodowa. Mr Amofa had been struggling with this debt since 2004 when he owed Mrs. Agnes Ewurama Aniagyei, the same Dodowa lotto operator to whom he is now indebted, 80 million old Ghana cedis. Though he has attempted to settle some of his debt in the past, Mr Amofa refuses to do so now. He has moved from his home in Dodowa to Tantra Hill, also in Accra, but even then does not spend time at home, avoiding the possibility of being confronted with his fraud. Mr Amofa refuses to answer Mrs. Aniagyei�s calls, and even when Mrs. Aniagyei manages to get him on phone the former BNI director comes up with all kinds of fairy tales. Mrs. Aniagyei, who has been a lotto operator in the area for fifteen (15) years, noted in an interview with TODAY that Mr Amofa has been one of her most regular customers. �Sometimes if he is not able to come personally, he send his children,� disclosed Mrs. Aniagyei. As Mr Amofa could sometimes stake over 20 million old Ghana cedis in a week, Mrs. Aniagyei was often force to get tickets from other lotto operators in Dodowa. �One of the girls I collected some of the lotto tickets in a sum of 15 million old Ghana cedis, called Eunice, has passed away,� noted Mrs. Aniagyei, implying that the stress of being involved in the debt was a contributing cause. Mrs. Aniagyei has run out of options, unable to contact Mr Amofa either via phone or at his home. She says that he often goes to Huni-Valley, in the Western Region, where he has apparently been made a chief. Mr Amofa�s underhanded dealings have allegedly not been limited to the Dodowa lotto operators. Neighbours and residents within Dodowa have hinted that Mr Amofa was accustomed to using his position as the former Director of the BNI to defraud others within the community. He would imply that he could still use connections that he had accumulated throughout his time as BNI Director to secure benefits in exchange for favours. It has been implied that, much like in his transactions with Mrs. Aniagyei, promises were often left unfulfilled. It is unclear why the retired Mr Amofa decided to abandon his sizeable debts now, after more than five years playing the National Lotto through Mrs. Aniagyei. He has demonstrated a pattern of incurring great debts, then attempting to settle in the past. While Mr Amofa�s debt, according to Mrs. Aniagyei�s records, on 2 October 2004 stood at 181,150,000 old Ghana Cedis, he had it down to 161,000,000 old Ghana Cedis by 29 October of the same year. Attempts by TODAY to contact Mr Amofa for his reaction proved abortive as he had gone incommunicado.