Three visa contractors arrested

Three persons have been arrested for allegedly issuing fake visas to potential travellers and duping them of various sums of money.

The suspects have been identified as Kyere Boakye, alias Ahmed Musah, 53; Benjamin Ofosu Barima, 32, alias Seth Obeng, and Jeffery Kofi Opare, 32, alias Ayerno Bezale Tayo.

They are said to have posed as travel and tour consultants.

Tip-off 

Briefing journalists in Accra on Monday, the Accra Regional Police Commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Timothy Y. Bonga, said on June 24, 2016, the police received a tip-off that some visa fraudsters based in Adabraka in Accra were issuing visas and other forged travelling documents to people.

He said policemen in plain clothes dispatched to ascertain the complaints found the three men busily operating the illegal business.

Findings 

According to Mr Bonga, the police retrieved 135 copies of fake Ghanaian passports and fake passports of a number of countries.

The police, he said, also counted 44 fake visas of seven countries in a number of the passports, some other documents suspected to have been forged and letterheads of some government agencies, fake certificates and bank statements. 

The seven countries included the United States of America, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Kenya, Iran, and China. 

Other items found included a number of rubber stamps of medical surgeons and 22 fake rubber stamps of the Director of Immigration used to affirm resident permit.

Other rubber stamps bore the names of the Ghana Health Service, the Ghana Education Service (GES), Barclays Bank-Krofrom branch, National Investment Bank, Akufo-Addo Chambers, Kwadaso Agric College, Dormaa Secondary School and the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH).

Additionally, the police found two embossment machines and a seal of George Kwasi Barimah, Republic of Ghana Notary, two laptops and seven mobile phones. 

Forged documents 

Mr Bonga said a search by the police revealed that the suspects used different names on the various forms of identifications such as temporary driving licences and passports which were found on them.

He said investigations also revealed that the group was able to secure any documents desired by a client, including fake bank statements, to support travelling documents for visas in respective embassies.

Mr Bonga also said people who sought the services of the visa fraudsters usually had a safe passage from Ghana but were arrested at their destination.

He cautioned that genuine visas were only issued by the home offices of the countries one wished to travel to and not by any individual or group of persons.