Two electricians have been prosecuted by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) for using the bar code of a deceased employee to defraud unsuspecting consumers.
Perry Kumi Asamoah and Samuel Afful Kenneth disconnected an ECG customer in East Legon on January 25, 2023, for allegedly engaging in illicit connection, and then demanded that she pay GH3,000 for reconnection.
According to court documents, the customer contacted her husband, who wired 1,500 Ghana cedis to the two defendants, and the power was restored. The client reported the issue to ECG's Revenue Protection Unit due to the suspects' suspicious behavior.
Perry Kumi Asamoah and Samuel Afful Kenneth approached another ECG customer on May 5, 2023 in Accra's Ogbojo using the same strategy.
The customer's call to the ECG office for verification led to the apprehension of two suspects, while a third, identified only as Isaac, managed to escape.
The two were charged with seven counts of conspiracy, intentionally and knowingly interfering with the supplier's distribution system of ECG, defrauding by false pretenses, and forgery before an Accra Circuit Court.
The court, officiated over by His Honor Bright Samuel Acquah, granted them each GH100,000 bail with one surety after they entered not guilty pleas.
The court deferred the case until June 1 and ordered the prosecution to submit its disclosures.
Brief facts of the case presented by the prosecution led by Paul Asibi Abariga indicate that on January 25, 2023, the two defendants and the fleeing suspect approached the complainant at her residence and introduced themselves as ECG personnel on meter monitoring duty.
According to the report, the complainant then led the defendants to the location where her ECG meter with serial number P18019458 had been mounted. Perry Kumi Asamoah then opened the meter and showed the complainant a component, claiming she had made an illicit connection.
"Based on this, the defendants disconnected the electricity to the complainant. "The complainant pleaded for the power to be restored, and the defendants demanded GH3,000 from her to do so," the summary of facts states.
The complaint continued by stating that the complainant informed her husband, who then sent Gh1,500 via mobile money to Asamoah's number, 0277388827, and the electricity was restored.
"The complainant, dissatisfied with the conduct of the accused, reported the matter to the ECG Revenue Protection Unit, which referred the matter to the ECG Investigation Unit for action."
"During the course of the investigation, a search of the two suspects revealed two identification cards bearing their names, photos, and serial numbers 193955 and 193954, respectively." The summons originated from an ECG that appeared to be forged and a mobile phone that contained the Tigo chip used to receive the money from the spouse of the complainant."
The brief facts also stated, "Further investigations revealed that the Barcodes on the two ID cards belonged to the late ECG employee Kingsley Darko. In their respective caution statements, the accused acknowledged to the charges against them. "Efforts are underway to apprehend the third suspect,"