A COUPLE, Alex Asare and Gifty Ampofowaa Asare, have found themselves in the grips of the law after they allegedly defrauded 27 professional teachers to the tune of Gh¢35,200 under the pretext of embarking on a recruitment exercise for them to teach on contract basis in England.
The couple, who have been hauled before an Accra Circuit Court, presided over by Mrs. Jennifer Duodu, are facing 27 counts of defrauding by false pretences.
The Asares were said to have operated the scam under a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) sponsored programme to swindle the teachers.
They have pleaded not guilty to all the counts and are in remand while the matter has been adjourned to April 8, 2008.
According to Chief Inspector Peter Benneh, the complainants were the teachers while the accused persons were a car dealer and trader respectively.
He said between May 2006 and January 2007, the accused persons embarked on a supposed recruitment exercise for Ghanaian professional teachers to teach in England on contract basis.
The prosecutor said the complainants applied after they were informed about the deal.
Mr. Benneh noted that after they were selected, the accused persons asked that the selected teachers submitted copies of their teacher's certificates and individual passports which the complainants complied with.
The policeman explained that the teachers paid them various amounts of money from GH¢200 to GH¢1,000, all amounting to GH¢35,200 and were even shown copies of their visas to assure them that they would indeed be traveling for their contracts.
In addition, he said after taking the money, the couple went into hiding and all attempts to get them, the visas or refund of their monies proved futile.
The Inspector said after the matter was reported to the police and exhaustive investigations conducted, the first accused person, Mr. Asare was arrested at his hideout in 2007 while his wife managed to elude the police until she was later arrested.
He said the first accused person, in his caution statement, admitted the offence but said a certain Mr. Adu took the monies to Europe.
The prosecutor said Mr. Asare promised to pay the monies but failed to do so and as a result, the couple were arraigned after police investigations.
By Fidelia Achama
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