A growing number of fraud victims in the Atwima-Nwabiagya South Constituency who were duped in a GHC800,000 job scam are pursuing Emmanuel Adjei Anwhere, the Member of Parliament for the area, for a refund, but he claims the fraud suspect in question no longer works as his Personal Assistant in his office.
The vexed victims, on the other hand, insist that the fraud suspect, Prince Asiedu Afriyie, continued to carry himself around the constituency as the MP’s Personal Aide until his arrest, and was always seen in his company during the time he was perpetrating the fraud, so this new claim that his role as PA had been terminated is absurd.
To add to the drama, people claiming to be family members of the suspect have expressed surprise at the MP’s assertion, claiming that there is no evidence that the suspect spent GHC800,000 on his own. “He continues to live with his mother.” For the money he received, he has no car, house, or even a plot to show for it. I’m curious if he did truly take those funds as claimed. I’m asking with the MP to let my brother out of jail because he has no property to his name despite working with him for over seven years. Don’t let him rot in jail if you aren’t assisting him in acquiring fortune. “He’s all we’ve got,” says the narrator. She stated that there is no evidence that her estranged brother, Prince Asiedu Afriyie, benefited from the sum in question. According to her, the suspect does not have a plot of land or a car to verify he received the funds as claimed, leaving her puzzled as to where the massive sum would have gone.
Court is held every Tuesday.
A group of cheated residents gathered before the Nkawie Circuit Court on Tuesday, June 7, 2022, where the case was to be heard after the suspect, Prince Asiedu Afriyie, had been remanded earlier. They were unhappy, however, because the embattled MP’s Aide was not brought to trial, and the trial judge, His Honour Nana Brew, delayed the case until June 17, 2022. Some of the victims informed journalists that they had been hunting for the suspect to refund their money just to learn of his arrest, prompting them to file complaints in court. A spokesperson for the victims who have been wronged Mr. Osei Kofi believes that the MP cannot be blamed because he was still working with the suspect during the recent preparation of their constituency album. “We’ll hold the MP accountable for our funds because he only issued the disclaimer after the controversy erupted.” When he stopped working with him, where had he been all this time? Suspect is seen as the MP’s spokesperson and errand boy. Whatever we’re told represents the MPs’ point of view, so to speak.
“Your PA was accepting directions from you, thus your acts had direct relevance to Kofi’s deeds and any inference thereof,” Mr. Osei Kofi said. When you visited the constituency, Kofi was with you, giving the appearance that you were still working with him. The indigenous people were encouraged to do business with him as a result of this. “How are you supporting the afflicted people as an MP?” he demanded, asking that he reimburse the victims.
Context
A Circuit Court in the Ashanti Region remanded Mr. Prince Asiedu Afriyie, known as the Personal Assistant of the Member of Parliament for Atwima-Nwabiagya South Constituency in the Ashanti Region, into prison detention for a GHC800,000 recruitment scam around a week ago. He was supposed to sleep in a locked room. Honourable Emmanuel Adjei Anwhere, the area’s MP, issued a statement confirming that the suspect on remand, Prince Asiedu Afriyie, worked for him as his Personal Assistant for three years between 2017 and 2020.
According to the statement, Prince Asiedu Afriyie’s trusted position in the MP’s office was taken away from him prior to the recent general elections. Many duped victims were surprised by the disclaimer, and they wondered why the MP, Emmanuel Adjei Anwhere, made it public only after the arrest of the suspect, who was previously known to everyone as his confidant and trusted Personal Assistant. Prince Asiedu was apprehended after he was reported by several people in the Atwima-Nwabiagya South Constituency. Prince Asiedu was arrested twice before being remanded in prison, once in Accra and the other in Kumasi, for the same offence. He was even wanted for a period in connection with the same fraud case. According to the complainant in the case, the suspect stole over GHc100,000 from her alone under the premise of assisting the recruitment of relations into various security services, but he did not keep his end of the bargain. Prince Asiedu Afriyie was believed to have collected various quantities of money from various people in the Greater Accra and Ashanti Regions, following which he went into hiding and his whereabouts were unknown.
