Two suspected fraudsters are in police custody in the Ashanti region for allegedly engaging in series of activities to defraud businesses in Kumasi and other parts of the country. Desmond Appiah and his accomplice Benjamin Nortey are allegedly members of a syndicate that dupes firms after receiving deliveries of bulk quantities of goods from them. According to Obuasi Municipal Police Commander DSP Mathew Asante, Desmond was initially arrested in October 2012 after the first complaint was reported. Desmond was released on bail, which he later jumped, according to DSP Asante. The police went on a manhunt and apprehended him and the accomplice at their hideouts in Afianya and Kasoa on Sunday. Luv FM has gathered that some of the companies, including agrochemical dealers and spare parts distributors, have been defrauded of over Gh₵850,000. DSP Asante suspects several other companies and individuals may have been defrauded. “We’ve received various complaints from people and it looks as if that is the modus; they’re going round defrauding people under the pretext that they are business people and what they normally do is that they collect bulk of goods and when they issue cheques, you go to the bank and there is no money in the account stated on the cheque”, he stated. The police commander cautioned business owners to be wary of suspicious transactions. The suspects have since been transferred to the Ashanti Regional Police Criminal Investigation Department in Kumasi. Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh/Luv Fm/Ghana