The Osu RE Police in Accra have arrested Eric Aryeetey, 30, for allegedly attempting to claim the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) benefits of a deceased contributor to the scheme. He was said to have surfaced at the Osu RE branch of SSNIT on Monday, April 11, to collect the cheque for GH¢8,569.97 upon invitation by SSNIT officials who had suspected fraud in his documentation. The deceased contributor, Ebenezer Amponsah, 49, died in November 2008 and his wife, Mamle Avenor, is alleged to have hatched the plan with Aryeetey and two others who gave their names as Eunice Dede Amponsah, 27, and Joshua Teye Amponsah, 20 to claim the benefits, but she also died in 2010 before the deal could go through. Mr. Amponsah had a son, Ebenezer Teye Eric, from a previous marriage, but had no issue with Mamle. It was revealed later that constant maltreatment by Mamle had forced Ebenezer to go back to his mother's hometown. The Osu branch manager of SSNIT, Frank Mobilla, told the Ghanaian Times that Mamle presented the suspect and the two others as the biological children of the late Amponsah, and the SSNIT started the processes for payment until Mamle died in 2010. Mr. Mobilla said SSNIT requested to know the location of the claimants’ residence, but were given a wrong address, and that raised the suspicion of the officials. And just as SSNIT completed the processing of the documents of Ebenezer, the biological son of the deceased also came with his paternal uncle to the office to also start the documentation. Thus, thorough investigations were conducted into the issue and Ebenezer was found to be the rightful beneficiary. Aryeetey was invited to pick the cheque, but the Police were alerted and he was subsequently arrested. Source: The Ghanaian Times