Three arrested for selling electricity meters illegally

Three people, two men and a woman, have been arrested for selling post-paid electricity meters in Kumasi.

They were arrested in the morning of last Wednesday and kept in police custody till Thursday when they were granted bail pending further investigations. A fourth suspect is, however, on the run.

The arrest of the three followed a tip-off received by officials at the Ashanti Regional office of the Power Distribution Service (PDS) in Kumasi regarding the activities of some persons who were selling electricity meters with the logo of the Electricity Company of Ghana embossed on them.

The Ashanti Regional Public Relations Manager of PDS, Mr Erasmus Kyere Baidoo, gave the names of the suspects as Abubakar Aisha, 39; Tampoli Bako, 37, and Paul Asolo, 29. The fourth person, Misbau Abubakar, is on the run.

Arrest

According to Mr Baidoo, a team of officials and the police first arrested Bako at the Anloga Junction when they went under cover to buy a meter and apprehended him the moment he handed over the merchandise.

He said upon interrogation by the police, Bako, who named Asolo as his supplier, led them to him at a location along the railway crossing at Oforikrom.

Asolo upon his arrest took the team to Aboabo where Aisha was arrested.

A search in her house led to the uncovering of 13 new electricity meters.

She reportedly told the police she sold each meter at GH¢250.

Mr Baidoo said Aisha mentioned Misbau Abubakar as the owner and supplier of the meters and led the police to his house at Sepe Timpom but they did not meet him.

Revenue loss

The PDS Public Relations Manager said the company was losing revenue as a result of selling, buying and installation of unauthorised electricity meters in the system.

He said through such illegal activity, some electricity consumers were using power on the blind side of PDS, since the ‘black-market’ meters were not captured and recorded in the systems of the PDS.

He explained that such criminal activity was rife in the region and was affecting the company’s operation so much and called for a concerted effort by all to stop the practice.

Mr Baidoo cautioned the public not to purchase electricity meters from unauthorised persons or from doubtful sources, since they might end up being implicated in theft themselves.

He said if such unaccounted power usage through pilfered meters continued, the company would have no option but to increase the current cost of power to make up for losses incurred, since the company was not in the position to go for loans to make up for loss of revenue acquired as a result of illegal power usage.

He appealed to the police and the judiciary to continue to support the PDS to arrest and prosecute people who engaged in illegal sale of electricity meters.