The Accra Circuit Court One has handed down a judgment, sentencing a Nigerian citizen to eight years of imprisonment with hard labour for impersonating COP Maame Yaa Tiwaa Addo-Danquah on social media and defrauding unsuspecting individuals.
The convict, Bright Daniels, who was already serving a sentence at the Nsawam Prisons when he committed the crime, initially denied the offence but was found guilty after a full trial.
DSP Emmanuel Nyamekye, Deputy Superintendent of Police, provided the details of the case to the Court, presided over by Mrs Afia Owusua Appiah. The complainant in the case was COP Mrs Maame Yaa Tiwaa Addo-Danquah, the former head of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service and currently serving as the Executive Director of the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO).
The offender, Bright Daniels, is a Nigerian national who had previously served a seven-year jail term at the Nsawam Medium Security Prisons.
The court was informed that Daniels' accomplice, Livinus Amadianaeze Ugwu, who is also a Nigerian and an ex-convict, is currently evading arrest.
According to DSP Nyamekye, in April 2021, COP Addo-Danquah discovered a fake Facebook Messenger account created in her name, using her picture, which was being used to extort money from a police personnel by falsely promising them opportunities to secure slots in United Nations (UN) and African Union (AU) missions in Somalia and Sudan.
The individual behind the fake account contacted the victims and instructed them to make payments through a mobile money network.
One of the victims, Detective Chief Inspector Baffoe, paid GH¢10,000.00 to the provided number, which was later withdrawn by Bright Daniels.
Investigations revealed that the phone number used in the scam was traced back to the vicinity of the Nsawam Medium Security Prisons in the Eastern Region.
Further investigations led to the discovery that Daniels was the user of that phone number. The police conducted a search, during which they recovered a Samsung Galaxy A02 phone used by Daniels to communicate with Ugwu, as well as a Tecno feature phone that was used to receive money from Detective Chief Inspector Baffoe.
Forensic examination of the devices revealed that Daniels and Ugwu conspired to exploit the name and photograph of COP Addo-Danquah to fraudulently obtain money from police personnel, promising them slots in the United Nations and African Union Missions in Somalia.
Daniels was found to have obtained the SIM card with the number 02******* that was used to receive money from their victims.
After admitting to the offence, Daniels was charged and brought before the court following the completion of the investigations.
