3 SIM Box Fraudsters arrested

The Communication Fraud Task Force has arrested three suspected SIM Box fraudsters.

Three persons, including a 16-year-old boy, have been arrested by the Communication Fraud Task Force for sim-box fraud.

The suspects were Selassi Dorfenyo, 24, Nicholas Ntsu, 16, and Eric Akpanya, 30.

CID COP Mr. Prosper Agblor, the Director General of the Criminal Investigation Department [CID] noted that the criminal activity has deprived the state of USD 196,992,00 which the suspects diverted into their private escrow account abroad.

According to the Director General, efforts will be arranged to retrieve those monies back into the government of Ghana accounts.

He indicated that detectives from the Criminal Investigation Department [CID] headquarters with personnel from the National Communications Authority [NCA] and the Telecommunications Service Providers with the technical support from Subah Info Solutions Limited napped the suspects.

CID COP Prosper Agblor noted that the two suspects, at the time of their arrest, were found in house number B.56, Community Tema 12 busily scratching top-up cards and loading them unto SIM cards to feed the SIM boxes which were operational.

He noted that items retrieved two SIM boxes, 700 MTN SIM cards, 100 Airtel and MTN Top-up cards, 1 generator, two heavy duty batteries, one UPS, one laptop, one mini tablet and 16 antennas.

An accomplice, Eric Akpanya, upon the support of the two suspects confessed to his involvement to the crime after he was arrested on July 7^th 2015.

According to the Director General of CID, efforts are being made to arrest an MTN distributor whiles yet-to-be-identified Lebanese national as the partner is at large and yet to be arrested.

He added that since 2011, 20 SIM Box fraud cases have been recorder and 24 persons arrested- 3 cases convicted, 4 persons discharged, 10 cases impending trial, 1 cases sent to A-Gs and 6 cases under investigation.

Redeemer Kwame, General Manager of Subah Info Solution Limited said this arrest brings to 13 the number of arrests made in the last seven months involving 17 people.

He indicated that the exercise is part of the special SIM Fraud Triangulation project instituted in December 2014 to locate and confiscate SIM boxes across the country.

According to him, the SIM Boxes are illegal terminals for routing international calls to evade government taxes.

He added that official figures from NCA estimate that the country losses in excess of $40 million of taxes annually due to the activities of SIM Box Fraudsters.

Mr. William Tevie, Director General, National Communications Authority [NCA] said the NCA has an open invitation on international wholesale carrier licences for every Ghanaian or registered entity that has the capacity to bring in international traffic.

He appealed to the general public to report any suspicions on SIM card acquisition to the nearest police station.

They will be charged with fraud, money laundry and illegal possession of equipments which comes with a jail sentence of 5years.

By Abubakari Seidu Ajarfor, [email protected]