Police officers reject GH¢200k bribe, arrest bishop and accomplice over fake currency

The Ghana Police Service has arrested three suspected members of a counterfeit currency syndicate after officers rejected a GH¢200,000 bribe allegedly offered in an attempt to evade arrest.

READ ALSO: Ghana receives £56,752 drug detection equipment from UK to help fight drug crime

The suspects: Ebenezer Natsu (20), George Attor (48), and Bishop Robert Olertey (54),  were picked up by police in Odumase-Krobo in the Eastern Region following an intelligence-led operation targeting illegal currency activities.

According to police sources, officers discovered 105 bundles of suspected counterfeit US dollar notes in $100 denominations, with a total face value of about $1.05 million, concealed inside a black and red-spotted metal trunk at the suspects’ hideout in Larsi, a suburb of Odumase-Krobo.

READ ALSO: On this day in 1978, Ghana won historic third AFCON title

The arrest followed surveillance by the Koforidua Municipal Investigative Team, after intelligence suggested the group was involved in circulating fake currency in parts of the Greater Accra and Eastern Regions.

Police believe the suspects were preparing to distribute the counterfeit money and exchange it for Ghana cedis during the Odumase-Krobo market day when the operation was carried out.

During the operation, one of the suspects, Bishop Robert Olertey, allegedly attempted to bribe the arresting officers in an effort to avoid being taken into custody.

However, the officers refused the offer and proceeded with the arrest, transporting the suspects and the recovered exhibits to the Odumase-Krobo District Police Command for further investigation.

READ ALSO: Ghana’s culture and history inspires visiting U.S. students

Police later handed the suspects over to the Akosombo Police Division, led by Chief Superintendent Doris Grant, to continue investigations into the suspected counterfeit operation.

One of the suspects, Ebenezer Natsu, has already been arraigned before the Odumase Circuit Court and remanded into custody, while the two others have been granted police.