A 35-year-old man has been arrested for defrauding more than 20 people by funding an extravagant naming ceremony with borrowed money.
Richard Kobee from Enyanmaim in the Ajumako Enyanmain Essiam District in the Central Region is alleged to have collected over GHC 20,000 from residents, claiming the money was to be used to assist his ailing mother.
Victims later discovered his mother was not ill after lending him the money in good faith.
He reportedly used the money to stage what residents described as the most expensive naming ceremony the town has ever seen.
After the event, he assured residents he would repay them, but after more than four months without any refunds, he went into hiding in Takoradi.
Reverend Fiifi Michael, a journalist and Master of Ceremony who had initially facilitated some of the borrowing, said Kobee also used multiple phone numbers to defraud people. In some, cases, he allegedly impersonated a woman or lured female victims into fake relationships to obtain money.
According to reports, he installed security cameras at his home and often locked himself inside to evade victims demanding repayment and changed all his phone numbers before being tracked down.
Kobee has since been returned to Enyanmaim for identification by victims and is currently assisting police with investigations.
SOURCE: Crime Check Foundation
