An entrepreneur and a pastor have appeared before the Dansoman Circuit Court for allegedly using the Queen Mother of Okpoi-Gonno as bait to defraud 15 members of her community, of a total of GH¢500,000 in a grand visa scam.
The accused, Lois Acquah, 43 and Isaac Clayton Trawick, 45, a self-styled pastor, have been charged with conspiracy to defraud by false pretence and defrauding by false pretence, contrary to sections 23 and 131(1) of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29).
They have both pleaded not guilty to the charges before the court, presided over by Her Honour Halimah El-Alawa Abdul-Baasit.
According to the prosecuting office, Chief Inspector Christopher Wonder, the alleged offences occurred on or before January 10, 2024, at East Airport in the Greater Accra Region.
The complainant, Naa Adersey Omanyesane III, Queen Mother of Okpoi-Gonno and a resident of Nungua, claimed she was lured into the scam after Acquah and Trawick promised to secure travel visas to Canada, the United States and the Bahamas for her and 15 others in her community.
Acquah is said to have presented 20 purported Canadian visas as proof of her capability, convincing the Queen Mother to collect and hand over a total of GH¢500,000 – comprising $13,900 and GH¢280,400 – from the community members to the accused.
Following the transaction, Trawick reportedly signed an agreement affirming their promise. However, the accused allegedly failed to deliver on the promise and began avoiding the Queen Mother, prompting her to report the matter to the police on April 20, 2025.
Police investigations led to the arrest of Acquah on April 25. She admitted to collecting money from the complainant but claimed it was only $400,000 and cited unspecified challenges that hindered her from fulfilling the visa arrangements.
Trawick was also arrested on April 30 and reportedly admitted signing the agreement involved in the case.
The court has granted each accused person bail in the sum of GH¢55,000, with three sureties. Two of the sureties must be public servants earning no less than GH¢5,000 monthly, while the third must justify with landed property equivalent to the bail sum.
Both accused have been ordered to deposit their Ghana Cards and passports with the court registry and report to the police once every week as investigations continue.
The case has been adjourned for further hearing on July 7, 2025.
