Scammed: US-based Ghanaian doctor narrates how she lost close to $50,000 in Accra

A US-based Ghanaian doctor has shared how she was scammed by a Ghanaian in Accra, losing close to US$50,000.

I am writing to bring to your attention a pressing matter that I believe warrants significant public awareness.

From aspiring to contribute to Ghana's growth to facing the harsh reality of deception, I, a USA-based Ghanaian doctor, share my story of being swindled out of nearly $50,000 by the cunning fraudster [name withheld].

This is my plea for justice, a call to action urging others to come forward, and a warning to potential victims.

I am a USA-based Ghanaian medical doctor who fell victim to a land and investment scheme orchestrated by Harry [full name withheld], also known as "Jay" or "Jigga," and on Instagram as kofinana_j.

Using deceptive tactics, lies, manipulation, fraudulent documents, and checks, Harry exploited my trust which he earned largely through exploiting my pre-existing friendship with his cousin.

This further deepened the betrayal.

The stress from this ordeal has taken an emotional and physical toll, even impacting my health.

During my visit to Ghana in December 2021, he targeted me, perceiving me as an ideal victim due to my profession as a physician.

Over 8 to 10 months, his deceptive practices led to a devastating loss of nearly $50,000 of my money.

Compounding the financial blow, I’ve incurred additional burdensome costs pursuing legal avenues in my quest for justice, further deepening the impact of the thousands of dollars already swindled from me.

On January 6th, 2023, Harry was arrested outside the famous nightclub, [name withheld], in Osu, where he is known to frequent and is allegedly a shareholder.

Despite his arrest, his deceit has intensified as he has resorted to more lies and manipulation since.

He agreed to repay the embezzled money by selling his shares in the night club to his business partners.

However, after many months of pursuit, it is evident that Harry's cunning extends to manipulating even his own business partners.

His web of lies and deceit has raised suspicions of potential blackmail of or collusion with his business partners to evade full payment of monies owed to me.

As the intricate dance of deceit continues, I now have doubts about the true intentions of all those involved.

So far, Harry’s actions paint a chilling portrait of a cunning and pathological liar, leaving justice hanging in the balance.

Evidenced by his Instagram posts, Harry possibly frequents parts of Europe, and it is suspected that his victims span across Ghana and abroad.

Deceptively posing as a businessman, claiming multiple businesses in Ghana, and frequenting the nightclub scene in Osu, he has likely grown his so-called businesses through funds acquired by fraudulent means.

I appeal to the Ghanaian public and the international community to help bring this scammer to justice. Investigation is ongoing, and I've kept my identity private.

I implore other potential victims to come forward.

The broader implication of crimes like these tarnishes the reputation of Ghanaians, discourages investments by diasporans and foreign-based Ghanaians, taking away from potential job creation desperately needed in Ghana.

My story holds implications beyond personal loss; it sheds light on the vulnerability of individuals aspiring to contribute to Ghana's growth and the broader consequences of fraudulent activities on the nation's reputation and investment climate.

I believe that sharing this story with your readers can serve as both a cautionary tale and a call to action for vigilance against such scams.

Full details of what happened

1. I am currently a naturalized citizen of the United States of America and I reside in the state of New York.

2. This relates to Harry [full name withheld], a citizen and resident of Ghana, who in 2022 defrauded me of $48,841.48 (forty eight thousand, eight hundred forty one US dollars and forty eight cents) in a scheme centered around land fraud and investment fraud.

HISTORY

3. In December 2021 I visited Ghana for the wedding of a good friend and there is where I met Harry who happened to be a relative of my friend.

During this brief visit in Ghana, I had casual discussions with Harry about my interest in investing in the Ghana film industry.

Ultimately Harry connected me to a third individual (herein known as the third party) who is also a citizen and resident of Ghana.

Ultimately myself, Harry and this third party decided to form a partnership to produce a film based in Ghana.

It was eventually agreed amongst the three parties that we will each invest our personal monies into the project with each holding title as an executive producer.

I pledged to invest $20,000 (twenty thousand) US dollars, the third party pledged to invest $20,000 (twenty thousand) US dollars and Harry pledged to invest $15,000 (Fifteen Thousand) US Dollars.

4. Both Harry and the third party made representations to me that all monies brought forth to be invested in the film production would be held in an escrow account and that my consent and approval would be sought prior to the spending of any money I had invested.

The third party also assured me that if at any point I was no longer interested in the production, he would refund the money I invested.

Based on the representations and assurances I received, I agreed to invest in the production.

5. Although I was concerned that I had to bring forth my portion of the investment funds before the fine details of the film production had been sorted out, I fulfilled my obligations to invest by transferring $10,000 (Ten Thousand) US Dollars to the third party and $10,000 (Ten Thousand) US Dollars to Harry.

I was told by both Harry and the third party that it was necessary for me to advance my full investment amount to them in Ghana so to make it readily available in Ghana where the production would be taking place.

Secondly, I opted to transfer the total sum of $10,000, equaling half of my investment, to Harry because he strongly advised against my giving the total of my investment monies to the third party.

Harry convinced me that it was in my best interest to transfer half of my investment to him so to ensure that my money would be appropriately banked in the escrow account in Ghana.

Thirdly Harry claimed that only by sending my money to him could he ensure that the third party would not mismanage my investment.

It is worth noting that Harry was already in other business partnerships with this third party before my involvement with them.

 6. My transfers to Harry were in multiple instalments - by bank wire transfer and by western union transfers.

The transfers to Harry were as follows:

On February 22nd 2022 I transferred by western union the amount of $131.43 for my portion of the cost for hiring a lawyer in Ghana to draft partnership agreements for the film production.

On March 28th 2022 I transferred by bank wire the amount of $6000 (six thousand ) US Dollars, on April 18th 2022, I transferred by western union the amount of $2000 (two thousand) US Dollars and on April 20th 2023 I transferred by western union the amount of $2000 (two thousand ) US Dollars.

To date, despite my requests, I have never been provided with any escrow bank account details before or after my money was delivered to the two parties. As time went on, it also became apparent Harry was unable to come up with the $15,000 he pledged to contribute to the film production and cited financial hardships.

Lastly a partnership agreement never materialized.

7. During the period which I was led to believe the film production project was a legitimate project, I also had other discussions with Harry including one where I expressed interest in investing in landed property in Ghana.

Not long after, Harry informed me that his church was selling several plots of land in an area called Katapo and that if I was interested in purchasing some of these lands, he would facilitate the purchase on my behalf.

On March 7th 2022 Harry, along with a realtor [name withheld] offered me a tour of the land by way of whatsapp video call.

Upon viewing the lands on whatsapp video I decided to purchase 4 plots (herein will be referred to as the “1st Land”).

Harry later informed me that per the realtor the total price of the 4 plots was GH¢100,000 (one hundred thousand) Cedis, with each plot quoted at GH¢25,000 (twenty five thousand) Cedis.

Harry claimed the lands were connected to his church and that in collaboration with his brother in law [name withheld] who was also a member of the church, they could facilitate purchase of the land on my behalf.

He claimed his brother worked closely with the realtor who was in charge of selling the lands for his church.

Harry asked that I transfer to him the total sum of GH¢100,631 Cedis for the purchase of the land and associated costs.

In light of this, I transferred by bank wire $13,555 US Dollars (thirteen thousand five hundred and fifty five dollars) which was equivalent to GH¢100,631 at the prevailing exchange rate at that time.

Upon receipt of my transferred funds, Harry reported to me that he had subsequently made full payment to the sellers, on my behalf, by way of a bank check and not cash so to ensure a paper trail and instill integrity in the process.

He gave me assurances that he would look out for my best interest and ensure the land purchase process went through without any issues.

8. In May 2022, after Harry had assured payment to the sellers, Harry delivered to me what I suspected to be defective indentures for the plots of land I had supposedly purchased. When I expressed my reservations about the defective indentures, Harry assured me that the documents had satisfied all the necessary legal processes and requirements.

Harry directed that I sign the documents and return the signed documents to him so to proceed with land purchasing process.

Based on these representations, I signed the documents and had them delivered to Harry in Ghana.

9. Not long after I made payment for the plots of land (1st land), Harry sent me a contractor’s quote for the purpose of building a wall around the land.

Harry assured me that this was normal procedure in Ghana and that it notifies third parties that the land has been purchased.

Therefore, at that stage I had no reason to distrust Harry.

I caused a total of $9060.15 US Dollars (nine thousand sixty US dollars and fifteen cents) in wire and mobile money transfers to Harry to cover the cost of cement, blocks and other materials for walls to be constructed on the four plots of land and later for an additional plot of land which again Harry led me to believe I had purchased (see details in subsequent paragraph).

As Harry received monies I sent for the wall construction, he provided me with text message updates claiming he had purchased those materials although he never showed me receipts or any picture images of the building materials he claimed to have purchased.

10. In July 2022 I visited Ghana for the purpose of the film production project.

Harry collected me from Kotoka airport and at that point informed me he had given to the third party my $10,000 US Dollar investment, which I transferred to Harry months earlier.

Also, during this visit in July, Harry and his brother in law brought me to visit the 4 plots of land I was made to believe I had purchased months earlier.

While there we were also met by the realtor.

At this point Harry had assured payment was made to the rightful owners and the copies of signed indentures were with the appropriate parties and undergoing normal processing.

During this visit to the “1st Land” I was informed by Harry and the others that there was an available plot of land which directly bordered the “1st Land” I had already purchased.

They advised that If I purchased that extra plot, I would own a cluster of 5 plots of lands, including the 4 plots already purchased. Harry later informed me that after corresponding with the realtor, he was informed the extra plot of land (herein known as the 5th plot) was quoted at GH¢29,000 (twenty nine thousand) cedis.

Harry again offered to facilitate payment of this 5th plot on my behalf. Also during this tour of the land, they led me to other plots of land in the area and as such I expressed to both the realtor and Harry my interest in purchasing an additional four plots of land (equivalent to 1 acre) in the area (herein known as the 2nd Land).

11. On July 29th 2022, the last day of my visit in Ghana, I gave Harry $2000 US Dollars in cash to be given to the realtor as deposit for the 5th plot of land and on July 31st 2022, while back in New York, I transferred to Harry the remaining balance of $1563.16 US Dollars for the complete payment of the 5th plot and commission for his brother in law, thus totaling $3563.16 (three thousand five hundred sixty three US Dollars and sixteen cents).

Regarding the 2nd land, Harry informed me that after correspondence with the realtor, he was informed each plot was priced at GH¢30,000 and so total cost for the 4 plots of land would be GH¢120,000.

Harry petitioned for me to add an additional GH¢5000 cedis as commission for the realtor.

Again, Harry offered to facilitate my purchase of the 2nd land by delivering my payment to the realtor.

Of note Harry made it a point to emphasize to me numerous times that allowing him to facilitate my payments would ensure that I am not duped and allow him to have some oversight as he would look out for my best interest, being that I did not live in Ghana.

Also Harry claimed not only to be a contractor but also he planned to begin work on his own land in the area and so it would be to my advantage to place him in charge of building the wall around my supposed land.

He claimed other family members of his had also purchased land in the area.

Between August 24th and August 29th 2022, I wired a total of $12,531.74 (twelve thousand five hundred thirty one US Dollars and seventy four cents) to Harry, which included payment for the 2nd Land and commission for the realtor.

The first installment of $9531.74 was paid on 24th of August 2022 and a second installment of $3000 was paid on the 29th of August,2022.

12. After several months of waiting to no avail for finalized indentures of the 1st land, initial indentures on the 5th plot and initial indentures on the 2nd land, I confronted Harry with concerns however Harry simply told me one story after another with regards to why I had yet to receive any finalized or initial documents on my purchases.

Growing all the more suspicious about his credibility around not only the film production but now also around my land purchases, I decided to begin the process of investigating both matters further.

13. By November 2022, due to my rising suspicions that the film production project was a sham, designed to scam me out of $20,000 US Dollars, I demanded for the return of my monies from both the third party and Harry.

The third party agreed he would return the $10,000 US Dollars I transferred to him and claimed that he was not responsible for the amount sent to Harry as Harry never made that potion of my investment available to him, despite Harry’s claims that he did.

I asked Harry to provide evidence to support

1) his claims of transferring my investment to the third party,

2) the payments he claimed to have made to the land owners and

3) evidence of the materials he had purchased for the wall construction.

To date Harry has yet to provide any evidence to support any of his claims.

Instead, he fabricated senseless stories in attempts to back up his claims of handing over my investment funds to the third party and the land owners.

It soon became obvious however, after his inability to provide any proof to back up his claims, that he had been lying all along.

By December 2022 I had lost complete confidence and trust in Harry.

It became obvious to me that he was a pathological liar, a fraudster and a scammer and I had been dupped out of close to $50,000 US Dollars between the film production and the land purchases.

14. I subsequently planned to visit Ghana in December 2022. During my December 2022 visit in Ghana, I independently visited the site of the 1st Land, the 5th plot and the 2nd Land that Harry had purported to have delivered my payments for.

While at the site I spoke to locals who ultimately provided me with the contact information of the landowner who was listed on the indenture Harry provided for the 1st land.

The locals confirmed that the 1st land did in fact belong to one [name withheld], who was listed on the indenture as one of 3 owners of the 1st land.

I subsequently placed a phone call and learned from him that he had never come across the indentures Harry had provided to me nor did he know of my interest in purchasing his land.

He invited me to his home so to further scrutinize copies of the indentures Harry had provided.

I made my way to the home of Mr. Adjei and as suspected the documents given to me by Harry were fake.

Mr. Adjei informed me he had never come across these documents. I disclosed details of my ordeal to him.

In front of me he placed a phone call to the realtor who also revealed that Harry had only delivered to him GH¢50,000 Cedis (fifty thousand Ghana Cedis) towards purchase of the lands and failed to heed his request for full payment of the lands thus the 1st land and the 5th plot had since been sold to other people.

The realtor also revealed in this call from Mr. Adjei, that Harry had not delivered any money to him for the purchase of the 2nd land. Of note the realtor has not prepared any land documents or sold to me any lands stemming from the GH¢50,000 he received from Harry.

Of note, it is my request that Harry retrieve this money as well.

15. Some days after this revelation by Mr. Adjei and the realtor, and I confronted Harry again requesting that he provide me with proof he had made payments for the lands and still he claimed he had paid for the land by way of bank cheques months ago.

I also demanded he provide me with the contact number for the realtor to verify his claims.

At that time, I did not reveal to Harry that I had already uncovered the truth of the matter from the realtor and Mr. Adjei. Sensing my frustration and the walls closing in on him, without my knowledge, Harry later met with the realtor on December 22, 2022 and in an attempt to cover his tracks he gave the realtor 3 fraudulent Ecobank bank cheques including 2 cheques totalling GH¢150,000 Cedis (One hundred fifty thousand Ghana Cedis).

The realtor informed me that Harry gave him one cheque in the amount of GH¢1000 cedis (one thousand cedis) dated for December 23rd 2022, another cheque in the amount of GH¢50, 000 Cedis (fifty thousand cedis) dated for January 15th 2023 and the 3rd check in the amount of GH¢100,000 Cedis (one hundred thousand cedis) dated for January 22nd 2023. Mr. Ghandi showed these checks to me.

16. The realtor informed me that Harry instructed him to keep the GH¢1000 Cedis cheque for himself and put the GH¢150,000 payment towards payment for the lands I had been made to believe I had purchased many months earlier.

 On December 23rd the realtor attempted to cash the GH¢1000 Cedis cheque at the bank and it bounced.

According to the realtor the bank informed him money in Harry’s account was far less than the GH¢1000 cheque he presented.

This raised concerns that the GH¢150,000 cheque.

ARREST OF HARRY

17. In December 2022, I reported the case to the Ghana Police.

After thorough investigation by the police force at the Accra Regional Headquarters (on Kwame Nkrumah Avenue), on January 7th 2023, Harry was arrested and detained.

On January 9th 2023 Harry admitted to investing the monies he deceitfully acquired from me, into his nightclub businesses in Ghana.

Of note the third party who was involved in the film production with Harry and I, was also Harry’s business partner in the nightclub business Harry claimed to have invested my money in.

Harry admitted that he had defrauded me.

On January 9th 2023 Harry was charged with fraud and granted bail with the condition to reappear in front of CID Director on January 12 with payment of all the money he had defrauded me of.

The investigation and the arrest of Harry.

The police seized the fake cheques from the realtor and obtained written statements from Harry, the third party and the realtor.

18. On January 12, 2023 Harry presented to the police station without any money and subsequently pled with his cousin (my friend) to make a payment of $4000 dollars (at the time equivalent to GH¢50,000 cedis at the time) on his behalf, towards his debt to me.

This money was collected by the police and released to me about a week later.

Harry was again asked to reappear in front of CID Director on January 19th 2023 to pay the remainder of the money.

19. On January 19, 2023, Harry presented to the Police station again without any money to settle the debt owed to me.

In front of CID, Harry passionately pleaded that he be allowed additional time of 1 month to produce the monies he had stolen from me.

After advise from my legal counsel I accepted his plea for one more month.

The police made it very clear to Harry that if he was to fail to produce my money by the February 19 2023 date he would face further criminal charges and legal action.

Harry expressed understanding of this. The police ordered the investigator to draft a charge sheet detailing charges against Harry and this was also completed.

20. It has become apparent to me, based on all evidence and the persistent deceitful tactics used by Harry that he intended from the very start to defraud me of monies to the tune of $48,841.48 US Dollars (forty eight thousand, eight hundred forty one dollars and forty eight cents).

Many months have passed since February 19, 2023 and despite my numerous requests and attempts by my lawyers Harry has failed to settle in full his debts to me.

21. Regarding the film production, the third party, he has since returned to me my $10,000 US Dollar investment.

22. With regards to the debts owed by Harry, to date I received the following amounts in payment: around July 7th 2023 I received one instalment of 45,000 cedis (equivalent to about $3500 US Dollars) and on September 15th 2023 I received $5000.00 US Dollars (five thousand US Dollars) from, a business partner of Harrys’.

Despite numerous attempts by my attorneys, there has been no further attempts by Harry or his business partners to make any additional payments towards his debt.

By Cecilia/New York

graphic@graphic.com.gh 

enoch.frimpong@graphic.com.gh