A Lotto Agent Emmanuel Mbir, 33, has appeared before an Accra Circuit Court on suspicion of forging lottery books in order to steal GHS 700,000 from Rand Lotto Company.
— Ghana Crimes (@GhanaCrimes) August 4, 2022
A Ghanaian Lotto agent who allegedly forged lotto booklets to siphon GHS 700 000 (around R1.3 million) belonging to Rand Lotto Company has appeared before an Accra Circuit Court.
Emmanuel Mbir, 33, pleaded not guilty to the charge of stealing.
The prosecution is expected to amend a charge of forgery of documents for the court to take his plea at the next sitting, according to the Ghana News Agency.
Chief Inspector Agyei said that last month the complainant detected that Mbir had falsified some documents to falsely claim cash to the sum of GHC700 000.
In February this year, the Director-General of the National Lottery Authority (NLC) announced the arrest of some 10 people for engaging in lottery fraud.
Maame Tiwa Addo Danquah, stated that together with the National Signal Bureau, the National Security Council, and the Ghana Police Service, they managed to arrest about 10 individuals in remote areas and around the border areas between Ghana, Togo, and elsewhere, Citinews reported.
In 2020, lotto fraudsters created several Facebook accounts, Whatsapp platforms and other social media platforms using the logo and pictures of staff of the NLA for their operations.
Ghanaian authorities say that lotto fraudsters receive various sums of money from their victims in order to stake lotto numbers for them.
It said after the draw of the lotto numbers by the NLA, the lotto fraudsters send photographs of fake winning coupons to their victims suggesting that they have won the lottery.
IOL