Jewel Ocquaye Prempeh, a queen mother who was previously arraigned for a recruitment scam, has appeared before an Accra Circuit Court, facing yet another case of recruitment fraud.
Both cases were put before the Court.
In the first case, Jewel was charged with defrauding by false pretenses after collecting GHS107,000 from 15 applicants under the guise of enlisting them in State Security Agencies, COCOBOD, the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), the Forestry Commission and the Narcotics Control Commission.
In the second case, she is accused of collecting GHS52,000 from four applicants under the pretext of enlisting them in the Bank of Ghana, Forestry Commission, COCOBOD, and State Security Agencies.
Prempeh, a queen mother of the Ayite Kortor Community, has denied the charges.
The court presided over by Mr Isaac Oheneba Kufour has admitted her to bail in the sum of GHS150,000 and GHS50,000 respectively in the two separate cases.
Prempeh, who had no legal representation, is expected to reappear on March 14.
She was put before another Circuit Court on January 30, 2024, in an GHS93,000 alleged enlistment fraud case.
The prosecution led by Chief Inspector John Gohoho in the first case said the complainant was Mohammed Ziblim, a supervisor at Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region. The accused person resides in Madina, Accra.
In 2021, Prempeh told the complainant about openings in the Ghana Police, Immigration, Audit Service, Fire Service, CCOCOBOD, Bank of Ghana, SSNIT, and Narcotics Control Commission.
According to Chief Inspector Gohoho, Prempeh also indicated during her interaction with the complainant that she had high-profile people working in the seat of government, particularly the Chief of Staff’s office.
The prosecution said that the complainant expressed interest after interacting with Prempeh.
Prempeh then provided the complainant with her account information at the Mamprobi branch of the Fidelity Bank for payment before beginning the enlistment process.
On April 11, 2022, the complainant went to deposit GHS44,000 cash into Prempeh’s bank account as an initial payment.
The prosecution said Prempeh collected soft copies of Certificates and application forms of the 15 applicants to begin the process.
It stated that the complainant paid Prempeh a further GHS63,000 on the same day, for a total of GHS107,000.
According to the prosecutor, after collecting the money, Prempeh promised to find positions for the 15 applicants within two months but failed.
All efforts to contact Prempeh proved impossible, thus a report was made to the police.
On October 18, 2023, Prempeh was arrested and in her investigation caution statement she admitted collecting the said money from the complainant to secure jobs for the applicants but failed.
In the second case, Prempeh is accused of collecting GHS52,000 from one Siisu Baharu, a businessman, to secure jobs for four applicants.
The complainant allegedly deposited GHS24,000, GHS20,000 and GHS8,000 to a bank account and Prempeh’s mobile money account.
She, however, failed to secure jobs for the four applicants.
By Joyce Danso, GNA Accra, Feb. 16
