Fire Service Officer Arrested For Recruitment Scam

A Fire Service Officer has been arrested for allegedly duping more than 40 people on the pretext of getting them recruited into various security services including the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA). Mark Sarfo Adjei, 36, who took various sums of money from his victims, mostly unemployed graduates from senior high schools and tertiary institutions, as processing fees, is said to have collected a total of GH�44,100 from 22 of his victims. He is also being held by the Korle Bu District Police Command for processing fake travel documents. Adjei, who has been on the police wanted list since 2012, was arrested after he was identified by a pastor, George Addai Boateng, through whom the suspect had collected money from the youth of his church to assist them to get enlisted into the security service. Recruitment at church The Korle Bu District Police Commander, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Peter Yembillah, said Adjei was arrested on December 8, 2018 �when he was spotted by the pastor at a spot near the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) in Accra�. He said Pastor Boateng told the police that Adjei had introduced himself as an official of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) and that he could help the youth of his church to be enlisted into the GNFS, the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), Ghana Immigration Service (GIS), and the Customs Division of the GRA. Subsequently, Mr Yembillah said, Pastor Boateng mobilised the youth of his church who needed employment and had shown interest in joining the security agencies. At the church, he said, 22 persons paid various amounts to Adjei to help them join the GNFS, eight also paid to gain recruitment into the GAF, while eight others also paid money to be recruited into the Customs Division of the GRA. Additionally, three other persons have reported to the police since the arrest of Adjei that the suspect had collected a total of GH�1,700 from them to assist them to gain employment with the GNFS. Suspect deserted post Mr Yembillah said the police, as part of investigations, called at the regional headquarters of the GFS where the commanding officer, D02 Olivia Ayem, confirmed that Adjei was an employee of the service but he had deserted his post for sometime now. According to Mr Yembillah, Ms Ayem said Adjei stopped reporting for duty following his transfer to the Weija District Fire Office, where it was revealed that he had been collecting money from people on the pretext of helping to recruit them into the security agencies. �A report on his conduct has been forwarded to the GNFS Headquarters awaiting action,� he said. During interrogation, Mr Yembillah said, Adjei admitted collecting various sums of money from his victims but could neither state the exact number of people he had allegedly defrauded nor the total amount of money he had collected from them. He urged people who had fallen victim to the scam to report to the Korle Bu police to assist with investigations into the matter.