CORPORAL JONES Oppong Boakye, an officer of the Ghana Armed Forces, accused of unlawful entry, extortion and stealing, is in the grip of the Offinso Divisional Police Command.
The suspect, 30, based at Uaddarra barracks in Kumasi, reportedly forced his way into the room of a 19-year-old male student, Maxwell Antwi, at Denting, a suburb of Offinso, on Monday night and attempted to extort GH¢300 from the complainant.
Corporal Jones, who introduced himself to the victim as an army officer who had been detailed by his superiors to cause the victim’s arrest for dabbling in cyber fraud, took away an Ipad of Maxwell valued at GH¢500 when his demand was not met.
He was granted a police enquiry bail yesterday pending his processing for court to answer three counts of unlawful entry, stealing and extortion against him.
ACP Emmanuel Amissah, the Offinso Divisional Police Commander, told DAILY GUIDE that the suspect (Cpl. Jones Oppong Boakye), was a military officer based at Uaddarra barracks in Kumasi.
According to the police chief, the suspect and his colleagues came to Offinso two weeks ago for an operation with the Forestry Commission.
On Monday June 17, 2013, Mr Amissah said the soldier went to the complainant’s house after he was directed by one young man, popularly known as ‘Death Row,’ who informed him (Cpl. Jones) that the 19-year-old student was an Internet fraudster.
The police commander narrated that the suspect forced himself into the room of the boy and introduced himself as an officer of the Ghana Armed Forces who had been detailed to cause his arrest for dabbling in cyber fraud.
He stated that the soldier quickly demanded GH¢300 from the complainant to free himself from the charge. But Maxwell Antwi could not afford to raise the said amount and offered to pay GH¢ 40 instead.
ACP Amissah said the soldier, Oppong Boakye, was angered by that and proceeded to take the Ipad of the complainant including his cell phone number and went away.
The suspect called the complainant the following day and asked him to pay the GH¢300 or risk being arrested, the police boss recounted further.
According to him, Maxwell told the suspect he had managed to raise GH¢100, but Cpl. Jones Oppong Boakye would not take that.
Maxwell accordingly informed his elder brother who reported the incident to the police.
The police requested Maxwell to feign interest that he had agreed to pay the amount demanded by the soldier and later called Cpl. Jones to come for the money, which he did, leading to the suspect’s arrest, said the police commander.
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