An Accra Circuit Court has jailed 19 years old Obed Dzorgbenyui Adche for two years and six months in hard labour for defrauding by false pretence.

Obed Dzorgbenyui Adche was convicted by Circuit Court 7 presided over Ellen Ofei-Ayeh yesterday.

The convict, according to Assistant Superintendant of Police (ASP) Fuseini Yakubu, was reported to the police by Eric Avevor, a Ghanaian based in the United Kingdom (UK).

In the brief presented before the court, the convict was of Keta Business College in the Volta Region, and sometime in the year 2021, he created a Facebook account under the name “Elizabeth Mensah Enyram” with the display picture (DP) of a Ho Teaching Hospital female nurse.

He said the complainant thinking he was chatting with a female, exchanged his contact number … with the accused on contact number 0202171867 and started an online relationship.

“In the course of the relationship, the accused secretly recorded the nakedness of the complainant via WhatsApp video without his knowledge.”

He said the accused later contacted the complainant with another phone number 0238509536 and requested that he pay him an amount of US$833.33 US in Bitcoin so that he will delete said video, if not he will publish it on social media.

ASP Yakubu added that out of fear, the complainant paid GH₵5, 020.00 in two trenches i.e. GHC 2,000.00 and GHC 3,020.00 on 24th and 27th April 2021, respectively to the accused via MTN Mobile Money on the number 0548230169.

“Not satisfied, the accused again threatened the complainant to buy him an iPhone 11 Pro, else he will publish the nude video.

“The complainant reported the case to the Cybercrime Unit of the CID Headquarters and the accused was arrested at Tema and his iPhone XR phone used in communicating with the complainant was retrieved for forensic examination to be conducted on it. Investigations continue,” he added.