The notorious Nigerian fraudster suspect, Sunny Anwamini, who is in the custody of the security force for defrauding a Ukrainian of $6,500,000 in a teak business deal, has also defrauded two Iranians out of $75,000 after posing as a pastor.
Sunny Anwamini, operating under the Ghanaian name Mr. Mensah is said to be the leader of the Brotherhood Church of Cross and Star in Odorkor used fake letterhead from some of the leading banks in Ghana, including the Bank of Ghana, to dupe his victims with the false claim that he has inherited $39 million inheritance and is looking for investment partners.
CID Deputy Director General Patrick Ampewuah told journalists that the two Iranians, Messrs. Karim Abdulalizadeh Lowu and Khosrw Hassan Abadi, are businessmen residing in Iran, while the accused is a Nigerian pastor based in Ghana.
He said the defendant lured the first applicant (Karim Abdulalizadeh) to the country about a year ago to supply him with X-ray films to be sold in Iran.
“After the victim’s arrival in the country, the suspect took him to a hotel in Ofankor and during a conversation he told the victim that he had $39 million in a vault at the Bank of Ghana, which he wanted to invest in Iran.
Mr. Ampewuah disclosed that, “Using forged documents to support his allegations, the accused person succeeded in collecting $10,000 from the complainant for supply of the goods and promised to order the X-ray films for delivery”.
According to the Deputy Director General, the suspect later returned without the X-ray films, claiming that the money was insufficient and demanding more to be able to supply the items.
He said that the complaint did not have the necessary additional funds at the time, so he returned to Iran and had $15,000 transferred to the suspect through a bank account provided by the suspect.
“After the money was paid, the goods were never shipped and whenever the victim asked Apostle Anwamini why the goods had delayed in arriving in Iran, the suspect replied with assurances that he was working on them,” Mr Ampewuah said, after some weeks later, the suspect emailed Karim that the goods were ready and told him to come down with $50,000 to pick them up.
He said Karim claimed he didn’t have enough money at the time so he informed his business partner Khosrh Hassan Abadi to help and the two came down to Ghana on April 18th, where the suspect collected the $50,000 ,placed them at another hotel at West Adenta and again failed to deliver the goods as agreed .
The Deputy Director General of the CID said the victims became suspicious and reported the matter to the police and last Wednesday the suspect was arrested by the police for questioning at the premises of his church.
He added that “During interrogation, Apostle Anwamini admitted to the crime and in his statement confessed to collecting $75,000 from the complainants”.
He further revealed that the deal had been initiated by his accomplices in Nigeria, who referred the Iranians to him in Ghana, and that 60 percent of the money he had collected had been paid to his Nigerian accomplices.
“The remaining 40 percent of the money, he said, was shared with other accomplices he was yet to identify.
“However, the suspect reportedly returned $4,000 and promised to contact his accomplices in Nigeria to return their share of the money,” he added.
Meanwhile, the suspect, who is currently in Bureau of Economic and Organized Crime (EOCO) custody over the teak business, was granted court bail but failed to meet the bail condition and is still in custody.
The notorious Nigerian scammer Sunny Anwamini, who is in the custody of the security force for defrauding a Ukrainian of $6,500,000 in a teak business deal, has also defrauded two Iranians out of $75,000 after posing as a pastor.
Sunny Anwamini, operating under the Ghanaian name Mr Mensah is said to be the leader of the Brotherhood Church of Cross and Star in Odorkor used fake letterhead from some of the leading banks in Ghana, including the Bank of Ghana, to dupe his victims with the false claim that he has inherited $39 million inheritance and is looking for investment partners.
CID Deputy Director General Patrick Ampewuah told journalists that the two Iranians, Messrs Karim Abdulalizadeh Lowu and Khosrw Hassan Abadi, are businessmen residing in Iran, while the accused is a Nigerian pastor based in Ghana.
He said the defendant lured the first applicant (Karim Abdulalizadeh) to the country about a year ago to supply him with X-ray films to be sold in Iran.
“After the victim arrived in the country, the suspect took him to a hotel in Ofankor and during a conversation, he told the victim that he had $39 million in a vault at the Bank of Ghana, which he wanted to invest in Iran.
Mr Ampewuah disclosed, “Using forged documents to support his allegations, the accused person succeeded in collecting $10,000 from the complainant for the supply of the goods and promised to order the X-ray films for delivery”.
According to the Deputy Director General, the suspect later returned without the X-ray films, claiming that the money was insufficient and demanding more be able to supply the items.
He said that the complaint did not have the necessary additional funds at the time, so he returned to Iran and had $15,000 transferred to the suspect through a bank account provided by the suspect.
“After the money was paid, the goods were never shipped and whenever the victim asked Apostle Anwamini why the goods had delayed in arriving in Iran, the suspect replied with assurances that he was working on them,” Mr Ampewuah said, after some weeks later, the suspect emailed Karim that the goods were ready and told him to come down with $50,000 to pick them up.
He said Karim claimed he didn’t have enough money at the time so he informed his business partner Khosrh Hassan Abadi to help and the two came down to Ghana on April 18th, where the suspect collected the $50,000, placed them at another hotel at West Adenta and again failed to deliver the goods as agreed.
The Deputy Director General of the CID said the victims became suspicious and reported the matter to the police and last Wednesday the suspect was arrested by the police for questioning at the premises of his church.
He added that “During interrogation, Apostle Anwamini admitted to the crime and in his statement confessed to collecting $75,000 from the complainants”.
He further revealed that the deal had been initiated by his accomplices in Nigeria, who referred the Iranians to him in Ghana, and that 60 per cent of the money he had collected had been paid to his Nigerian accomplices.
“The remaining 40 per cent of the money, he said, was shared with other accomplices he was yet to identify.
“However, the suspect reportedly returned $4,000 and promised to contact his accomplices in Nigeria to return their share of the money,” he added.
Meanwhile, the suspect, who is currently in Bureau of Economic and Organized Crime (EOCO) custody over the teak business, was granted court bail but failed to meet the bail condition and is still in custody.
