Leader of fraud, car robbery gang grabbed

The police also retrieved from the suspect, a Toyota Fortuner and a Hyundai Santafe, believed to have been robbed from a judge and a banker respectively.

The suspect allegedly feigns interest in car deals and later robs unsuspecting persons of either their cars or money.

The Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Accra Regional Police Command, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Efia Tenge, told the Daily Graphic that on April 6, 2017, the victim (name withheld) spotted an unregistered Hyundai saloon car parked at Westland in Accra which had been advertised for sale with the mobile phone number 0255024350 on the car.

“The victim called the number and spoke to one Agyapong and they agreed on GH¢25,000 as the cost of the car. The said Agyapong told the victim that he would send one of his errand boys to bring the car to the victim for inspection.

“After a short while, the victim received a phone call from another person who introduced himself as the errand boy. After the two met and inspected the car, they drove in the same car to the Agbogba Junction where they met one Kofi Lawton, who claimed to be the owner of the car.

“The victim paid GH¢25,000 to Kofi Lawton and got a receipt to that effect. Afterwards, Kofi Lawton instructed the ‘errand boy’ to go with the victim for the car documents at Adjiringano and come back for the car which was parked at Agbogba.

“The two went to the roadside to take a taxi to Adjiringano, but the errand boy told the victim that he did not have enough money on him and had to go back to collect some money from Lawton.

“After waiting for some hours, the victim returned to where the car was parked, only to realise that the car, as well as the sellers could not be found,” she narrated.

The victim subsequently made a formal complaint to the police. The police immediately began investigations into the case, ASP Tenge said.

“On May 13, 2017, the victim spotted a Toyota Fortuner that had been advertised for sale with the same cell phone number that was used to rob him previously.

“The complainant told the police about it. This time round, a female was used to feign interest in the car. The lady was taken through a similar process, with the suspect asking her to meet them at Abeka Junction to make payment.

“Detectives from the Achimota Police Station were deployed to lay ambush at the scene. Not quite long afterwards, suspects Lawton, Robert Tackie and Nana Ackah arrived on the scene on board a Toyota Fortuner and Hyundai Santafe with registration numbers GR-2431-16 and GW-8622-16 respectively,” she said.

ASP Tenge said that after the suspects entered the banking hall with the lady for the transaction to be made, the police arrived at the scene.

She said during the identification parade, the victim identified Lawton as the one he paid the GH¢25,000 to at Agbogba.

Lawton, after interrogation, admitted that he collected the money from the victim, and had begun paying her back through the police.