Two arrested for impersonation of PDS staff

A 26-year-old electrician, Prince Owusu Ansah and an apprentice Samuel Okai 27, have been apprehended by the police for posing as staff of Power Distribution Services (PDS).

The two were arrested at Teacher Mante, a suburb of Suhum in the Eastern Region by the Kibi Police Command.

The Two persons had visited some houses in the Teacher Mante community to disconnect electricity supply to customers who have defaulted in the payment of their electricity bills.

According to one of the customers who was also a victim, Mr Solomon Addo- Darko, at about 12.00pm on August 14 this year, the suspects visited their home and demanded their electricity bills.

He explained that, when one of his friends brought out his bill, Prince Owusu examined the bill and said he was owing, which he the customer denied.

He further stated that another customer brought out his bill to the suspects and the suspects said he was also owing and that they had to pay the bills or they would have them disconnected.

Mr Addo- Darko said the customers pleaded with the suspects who demanded money from the customers to avoid disconnection.

He said the customer then offered the suspects GHC5.00 but the suspects refused the money saying it was not enough.

According to Mr Addo- Darko, the suspects went to the customer’s meter to disconnect the power supply, but while the suspects were trying to disconnect the supply from the meter, the customers realized that the suspects were having challenges and that made them to suspect that the two young men were fake.

He said the customers then demanded for their staff identification cards but the cards which the suspects produced were not that of PDS.

Their suspicion heightened and therefore called some officials of PDS in Suhum to come and verify if the two suspects were staff of PDS and when officials of PDS arrived at the scene, they detected that the identity cards of the suspects were fake.

According to Mr Addo- Danko, this was about the third time the suspects had been to the community and that they usually collect money from customers to reconnect officially disconnected customers and disconnected customers who failed to give them money.

He said on some occasions, the suspects removed customers’ meters for refusing to give them money.

When the PDS officials interrogated the suspects, they were found with some Energy Commission wiring forms and ID card.

The PDS officials together with some customers arrested the two suspects and handed them over to the police.