Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry, Herbert Krapa has denied involvement in GH¢564, 000.00 job recruitment and auction vehicles scam.

 Mr Krapa’s name was allegedly deployed as vehicle for a criminal scheme  by William Kwame Addo, 42 and and one Kwasi, who is currently at large. 

A total of five people were allegedly defrauded including a farmer, teacher and businessmen respectively.

Kwame Addo was arrested and arraigned  on charges including conspiracy to commit a crime to wit defrauding by false pretence, and defrauding by false pretence.

A total of six criminal counts had been bundled the head of the accused when presented before an Accra Circuit Court, presided over by Samuel Bright Acquah on Friday.

The accused has pleaded not guilty to the charges and was remanded two weeks into police custody.
The case is being prosecuted by Chief Inspector Isaac Anquandah who narrated to the court that the nature of the complainants and accused in the case.

According to him,  Kwame Addo is a businessman and lives at Amasaman — Fise in Accra. 

He informed the court that in the year 2021, Kwame Addo posed as a Personal Assistant to the Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry, Herbert Krapa and informed the complainants that the deputy Minister could assist them to be enlisted into the security agencies and employment with other government institutions. 

The accused also informed some of the complainants that the Deputy Minister could assist them to buy government auction vehicles and demanded various sum of monies from them to be given to the Minister for that purpose.

The complainants numbering paid various sums of monies totaling GH¢564,000.00 to the first accused to be given to the Deputy Minister to secure employment as stated above. 

The accused sought to consent of on Thomas Adongo to depart with an amount of GH¢20,000, with the claim to use same to labby Mr Krapa for  appointment of Municipal Chief Executive (MCE).

Another complainant by name Seth Opoku allegedly paid the accused GH¢78,000.00 with hope that it would be used to lobby the Deputy Minister for the appointment of MCE as well as recruitment of his relatives into the security agencies.

Farouk Awudu also paid GHC43,000.00 for MCE appointment and state security agencies recruitment for his relatives, and Moses Batidu paid alleged lobbying fees of GH¢28,000.00 to the accused to enable occupy the position of Oti regional coordinator, and for he his relatives to be recruited by the security agencies.

Yaw Ahenkora paid GH¢395,000.00 to the accused to cover the appointment of District Chief Executive (DCE), the recruitment opportunities for his relatives into the security agencies, and the offering of auction vehicles.

The court was told that none of the complainants seeing MDCE and regional coordinator jobs got the opportunity or had their relative recruited by the security agencies.

Similarly,  the auction vehicles were not offered on sale to Yaw Ahenkora, which collectively, made the complainants furious to demand for their monies from the complainant.

Kwame Addo after receiving the monies blocked calls from the complainants and went into hiding. 

“A report was made to the Police and first accused was later arrested. He admitted having received the monies from the complainants but said he gave all the monies collected from the complainants to the second accused person to be given to the Minister,” the prosecutor stated.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Minister was said to have denied receiving any money from the accused persons. 

Efforts are underway to get the second accused person arrested.