Abdul Salaam Tijani , a teacher has been sentenced to 12 years imprisonment with hard labor by the Tamale High Court for defrauding farmers.
Abdul Salaam Tijani accordingly defrauded some 739 farmers in Tamale to a tune of Gh¢ 84,985.00.
The convict and his wife, Shawana Chentiwuni Musah, registered a Trust Fund Company in the name of providing scholarships and educational supports.
The company was registered officially in April 2017and began operations.
Police investigations revealed that the suspect fulfilled his obligation of paying subscribers of the policies of the company in the company’s first year of operation but failed to do same in the following year.
After various efforts and attempts by customers to retrieve their money and benefits failed, customers of the company reported to the Northern Regional Police command.
Police investigation further revealed that the suspect operated an account with then GN Bank (now GN Savings).
The account number was given as 4016122004015.
According to the Police, Northern Regional branch of the Bank of Ghana was called to assist the Police investigate the activities of the suspect and the company.
It was revealed that the activities of the company was a scam.
The Financial Intelligence Center of the Bank of Ghana reported that the said account had some Gh¢ 168,939.00 deposited into it on the 9th of May, 2017, with another deposit of Gh¢ 36,100.00 made into the same account on May 10, 2017.
A transfer of Gh¢ 205,000.00 was made from the account on May 10, 2017 to Gold Coast Fund management, a subsidiary of GN Savings as a fixed deposit investment.
The report further revealed that Gh¢ 40,000 and Gh¢ 10,000 were withdrawn from the account on May 26 and 29, 2017 respectively leaving a balance of Gh¢ 3,943.87 as at May 31, 2017.
Meanwhile, according to the report, there was an earlier transfer of Gh¢ 23, 350.00 and Gh¢ 30,510.00 on May 23 and 26, 2017 respectively.
Abdul Salaam however, is said to have taken a loan of Gh¢ 160,000.00 from the GN Savings against the fixed deposit investment.
However, Gh¢ 84,985.00 was collected from some 739 farmers and Gh¢ 557,285.00 from 9446 trust fund registrants.
Abdul Salaam was charged with defrauding and moneylaundering by the Tamale High Court presided over by Justice Edward Apenkwa and subsequently sentenced to 12 years imprisonment with hard labor.
Credit: Eric Kombat, Tamale