A man who allegedly impersonated Professor Joshua Alabi, a leading member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), in order to defraud a Council of State member, has appeared before an Accra Circuit Court.
Nurudeen Abdul Ganew, 40, has been charged with impersonation and defrauding by false pretences.
Ganew, a businessman, together with his two brothers; Nurudeen Rashid and Nurudeen Gafaru, has also been jointly charged with conspiracy to commit crime.
They have all pleaded not guilty to the charges and were granted bail in the sum of GH¢150,000 with three sureties, one to be justified.
The court, presided over by Mrs Sedinam Awo Kwadam, ordered the accused to reappear on July 21, 2025.
According to the prosecution, on March 3, 2025, Ganew presented himself as Professor Joshua Alabi and defrauded a Council of State member, Mr Hakeem Addae, by false pretences.
Ganew, who claimed to be an official of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), allegedly told Mr Addae he could help him acquire a Toyota Land Cruiser and later ten trucks being auctioned. Mr Addae, who is the NDC Constituency Chairman for Twifo-Atti Morkwa and currently represents the Central Region on the Council of State, parted with GH¢60,000.
Prosecutors said Ganew was later tracked and arrested at his residence in Wa, in the Upper West Region. During the arrest, four identity cards, three pen drives, four mobile phones and cash amounting to GH¢14,896 were retrieved.
On July 2, 2025, Ganew’s brothers, Rashid and Gafaru, were arrested at Subinso, a suburb of Wenchi, by the National Signals Bureau. A search of their residence uncovered over 12 assorted mobile phones with 12 MTN SIM cards, one Telecel SIM card, and a database of constituency executives of political parties in all 16 regions — believed to be a target list.
Some of the SIM cards retrieved from the two were found to be the same numbers Ganew had used to communicate with Mr Addae and receive the money.
Further investigations revealed that the three brothers, who lived in Wa and Subinso-Wenchi, had formed a syndicate that impersonated high-profile personalities, mostly politicians, to defraud their victims.
Their targets reportedly included chiefs, queen mothers, political figures, and companies.
Ganew was identified as the ringleader who usually contacted victims, while his brothers handled withdrawals of the fraudulently obtained funds through mobile money vendors in Wa, Wenchi, Sunyani, Techiman, Koforidua, and Accra.
GNA