Businesswoman in $13,000 fraud case remanded again

The 62-year-old self-styled businesswoman who is being held for allegedly defrauding another businesswoman of $13,000 under various false pretences has been remanded again by the Madina District Court. 

This comes after the court, presided over by Abena Asoh Owusu-Omenyo, denied a bail application by the accused through her lawyers.

According to the court, it was not satisfied that Nana Ama Nwarueze, popularly known as Ohemaa, would avail herself to stand trial when granted bail.

The judge, therefore, ordered for a thorough investigation into the background of the accused since the prosecution had told the court that the accused had no fixed place of abode.

The accused is alleged to have posed as a business mogul who owns expensive properties, including the Ohemaa Plaza at East Legon, some fishing vessels in Takoradi and a house Airport Residential Area in a bid to get the complainant in the case to give her the money.

Charges

The prosecution, led by Chief Inspector Apewa Achana, has charged the accused with one count of defrauding by false pretence.

She was arrested after the court issued a bench warrant in December last year, after unsuccessful attempts to arrest her.

Nwarueze has pleaded not guilty to the charge. 

Prosecution’s case

Narrating the facts of the case to the court, C/Insp. Achana said the complainant, Dorothy Asare, got to know the accused through a mutual friend.

The accused, he said, made representations to Cynthia that she was a business mogul who owned a lot of properties in the capital.

The prosecutor added that Nwarueze made the same representations to the complainant and added that she had over 10 containers of goods at the Tema port.

The prosecutor said the accused person told the complainant that if she could part with $5,000, she would clear the containers and refund the complainant's money to her in three weeks.

“Upon realising that the complainant was not satisfied, the accused, in a bid to convince her, made a further representation to her that she was in partnership with Devtraco and showed her an ongoing construction of apartments on her purported property which was to be leased upon completion and would reel in a lot of money,” the prosecutor said.

Based upon these representations, the prosecutor said the complainant gave the $5,000 to the accused at her home Airport Residential Area.

After a month, Nwarueze contacted the complainant and demanded $8,000, which she claimed was to help with an issue at the port and promised to pay back within two weeks.

The complainant obliged and gave cash of same to her.

After three weeks, the complainant contacted Nwurueze and requested the $13,000, but the accused gave excuses and failed to make payment.

“Some months later, the complainant could not reach her anymore and also discovered that the property at Airport Residential Area did not belong to the accused nor was she in any kind of partnership with Devtraco.”

“Further, the accused had relocated from the Airport residence without any trace,” he said.

During investigations, the prosecutor said the accused could not prove that she had any containers to clear in any of the ports in Ghana, adding, “All the representations were made with the sole intent to defraud the complainant and the accused, in fact, succeeded in obtaining the consent of the complainant to part with $13,000”.