Consultant granted bail over visa fraud
A 39-year-old travel and tour consultant, who swindled
a trader of his GH¢16,800.00 under the pretext of securing a Canadian visa for
him, has been granted a GH¢25,000.00 bail by a Kumasi Circuit Court.
Anthony Agyarko, the accused, pleaded guilty to the charge of
defrauding by false pretences and would re-appear before the court presided
over by Madam Lydia Marfo, on November 4, 2019.
Prosecuting, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Felix
Akowuah, told the court that, Evans Appiah, complainant lives at Bantama, while
the accused resided at Amanfrom, all in Kumasi.
In June last year, Appiah who had the intention of travelling
to Canada approached the accused for assistance in obtaining a visa.
He told the court that, the accused then collected the said
amount from Appiah and promised to obtain the Canadian visa for him, but this
never happened.
Prosecution said the complainant, after several fruitless
attempts to get the visa from the accused, became aware he had been swindled
and then made a report to the police in Kumasi, leading to the arrest of the
accused.
In his caution statement, the accused confessed to the
offence, but pleaded with the police to allow him some time to refund the
money.
The accused could not honour the promise and was subsequently
charged and arraigned.GNA
