Man, 48 arrested for fraud

Page 32: April 5, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Executive Director of Golden Sunrise, a consultancy firm in Accra, has been arrested for allegedly defrauding some women in the Gomoa West Constituency of GH¢29,529.
Joseph Abiggy Norman, 48, alias Dr Abiggy Norman, allegedly collected the money from the women in June last year, on the pretext of facilitating loans from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Global Fund for Women.
His action is said to have cost some women organisers of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Gomoa West and Assin South constituencies their positions.
Until his arrest, Abiggy Norman was facing similar charges at the Madina District Court for allegedly defrauding other persons in the Dome-Kwabenya Constituency on same grounds and issuing them with dud cheques.
The Deputy Director-General of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Ken Yeboah, told the Daily Graphic yesterday that Abiggy Norman introduced himself to the suspended women organiser of the NPP in the Gomoa West Constituency, Madam Evelyn Sarkwah, as a consultant for Philia Love Women Association and mentioned his consultancy firm as Golden Sunrise located in Accra.
He said the suspect told Madam Sarkwah that he had been contracted to facilitate the granting of loans to women groups in the country.
ACP Yeboah said the suspect told the woman to organise the women in the constituency to enable him to hold seminars for them.
He explained that being concerned with the welfare of the women, Madam Sarkwah organised the women for the seminar to enable Abiggy Norman to brief them.
He said at the seminar, Abiggy Norman asked the women to group themselves into groups of 15.
According to him, 117 groups were mobilised and each member of the group was asked to fill a form and pay a processing fee of GH¢17.
ACP Yeboah said the women never heard or saw Abiggy Norman again after filling the forms and paying the money to him.
He said the women then vented their spleen on Madam Sarkwah for deceiving them into parting with their money.
He said it was during their search for Abiggy Norman that they heard he was in custody at the Dome Police Station.
ACP Yeboah said when the suspect was interrogated at the CID Headquarters, he allegedly admitted collecting the money from them.
He said Abiggy Norman, however, explained that because the funds from the IFAD and the Global Fund for Women were delaying, he decided to loan out the money he collected from the women in the Gomoa West Constituency to other women with the view to recouping it with interest and using that to give the requisite loans to the women.
ACP Yeboah appealed to any member of the public who might have fallen victim to the activities of Abiggy Norman to report to the CID Headquarters to assist in investigations.