Six individuals’ dreams of immigrating to Panama for better opportunities have been shattered after they paid a total of US$14,500.00 in visa fraud to two businessmen, Abdul Aziz Iddris and Abdallah Abdul Sallam.
Alhassan Amin Mohammed, an employee of Ayawaso North Municipal Assembly residing in Alajo, Greater Accra region, initially entrusted the money to Abdul Aziz, who then passed it on to Abdallah.
However, the promised genuine visas never materialised, leading to Abdallah’s appearance in the Accra Circuit Court on charges of conspiracy to commit a crime and defrauding by false pretences.
He pleaded not guilty before Judge Isaac Addo on Monday, March 4, 2024, and was granted bail of GH¢200,000.00 with two sureties.
Abdallah was not the sole individual charged; Abdul Aziz also faced accusations. Despite being the primary accused (A1), Abdul Aziz failed to appear in court.
The prosecuting officer, Chief Inspector Jonas, requested a bench warrant for Abdul Aziz, but it was denied due to a lack of evidence proving that A1 had been served with the court hearing notice.
Alhassan initially approached businessman Abdul Aziz in June 2023, seeking assistance for himself and friends interested in immigrating to Panama for better prospects.
Allegedly, Al collected US$14,500.00 from the complainant to facilitate his friends’ travel from Ghana to Panama.
Out of this amount, Al gave US$10,000.00 to Abdallah (referred to as A2), another businessman, who purportedly promised to obtain Panama visas for the complainant’s friends.
After three weeks, A2 returned with the passports of the alleged victims, supposedly containing the visas.
However, two of the passengers, Musah Abdul Latif and Bismark Raymond, grew suspicious and decided to verify the authenticity of the visas at the Kotoka International Airport immigration office.
Their suspicions were confirmed when immigration officers declared the visas fake and unusable for travel. Subsequently, the matter was reported to the Accra Regional Police on September 7, 2023, leading to the arrest of Al and A2.
During interrogation, both Al and A2 confessed to the crimes outlined in their investigation caution statements.
On October 10, 2023, a letter was sent to the Ghana Immigration Service with the supposed Panama visas attached to verify their legitimacy.
The Ghana Immigration Service responded on January 19, 2024, confirming that the visas were counterfeit and invalid for travel.
Following an investigation, the accused individuals were formally charged and brought before the court.
The court has adjourned the next hearing of the case to April 16, 2024.