A 25-year-old National Service Personnel, Jesper Kobina Mensah, managed to steal Gh¢ 303,950 from a Stanbic Bank Ghana Limited account to invest in cryptocurrency.
Kobina was able to siphon the money from the bank account which was later discovered by the account holder.
The account holder, a Ghanaian residing in South Africa reported unauthorized electronic transfers from his bank account, totalling Gh¢ 303,950.
According to reports, the stolen funds were allegedly transferred to various MTN Mobile Money accounts with the following details: 0598633019 (Abraham Seidu), 0544116186 (Stephen Eshun) and 0597564947 (Fatau Sulley).
Sulley, a Binance merchant, who trades in cryptocurrency USDT, admitted during interrogation that he had received funds via Mobile Money for cryptocurrency transactions on the Binance platform, but denied he only served as a middleman.
A police investigation led to the arrest of Jesper Kobina at his hideout at Nungua, a suburb of Accra.
A search at his premises revealed a trove of electronic and telecommunication equipment, including mobile phones, 2 laptops, 108 registered Sim cards, 27 empty Telecel SIM starter packs, 72 registered MTN Sim cards, 88 empty MTN Sim starter packs and other assorted items linked to digital fraud.
In his statement, Kobina admitted being the user of the two key mobile numbers involved in the transactions and acknowledged receipts of the funds.
However, he denied that he acted on behalf of unidentified Chinese nationals, who directed him to convert the money into USDT and forward it via Binance platform.