Three busted and arraigned over SIM box fraud
Three persons, including a female, have been busted and arraigned over alleged SIM box fraud at Sakumono in Tema West.
They are Olanrewaju Adedeji Segun, Timileyin Fakunle, and Olamide Roheemot, all of whom are data managers.
Three other accomplices, Adebowole Pelumi, Michael Taiwo, and Tommy, are said to be at large.
The accused persons are said to have fraudulently obstructed the communication of victims and obtained funds from them through mobile money payments, then systematically converted the funds into cryptocurrency and transferred them outside Ghana.
Further investigations also revealed that from June 2025 to January 2026, the accused persons and their accomplices received various sums of money from victims’ mobile accounts and transferred $700,000 in cryptocurrency.
The accused persons have been charged with conspiracy to commit a crime, namely operating an electronic communication service without a license from the National Communications Authority (NCA); operating electronic communication services without a license from the NCA; possession of a quantity of unregistered SIM cards; and obstruction of communication.
Segun, Fakunle, and Roheemot, who had no legal representation, have pleaded not guilty to the various charges before an Accra Circuit Court.
The court has remanded the three accused persons into lawful custody to reappear on June 4, 2026.
The prosecution, led by Chief Inspector Wisdom Alowru, prayed for their remand while investigations were underway.
The facts as narrated by the prosecution in court indicated that the complainants are police personnel stationed at the Regional Criminal Investigations Department, Operations Unit, in Accra.
The accused persons are Nigerians and residents of Sakumono, Tema West.
On January 20, 2026, the Accra Regional Police Command received information that the accused persons and their accomplices, who were occupants of House Number BE 57, Celebrity Hills Avenue, Sakumono, had installed various electronic devices in their apartments.
Prosecution said they were using the electronic devices to commit SIM box fraud.
On January 22, 2026, personnel from the Regional CID Operations were dispatched to the apartments in response to a search warrant issued by the Adabraka District Court.
Prosecution said the team conducted a search in three apartments occupied by the three accused persons and found a quantity of unregistered SIM cards, 26 desktop computers, 52 SIM boxes, 1,040 assorted mobile phones, 6 internet routers, and other gadgets installed in the apartments and used for SIM box fraud.
The Prosecutor said the accused persons were arrested and identified Adebowale Pelumi and Michael Taiwo, who are currently at large, as their accomplices.
The Court was told by the prosecution that the accused persons also mentioned one Tommy, a Chinese national currently in Singapore, as their overall boss, who issued instructions to them to operate the devices.
Prosecution said an Order of Retention and Examination was issued by the Adabraka District Court, directing the Cyber Security Authority to retain and examine all the devices recovered from the accused persons’ apartments.
The Prosecutor said the Cyber Security Authority accessed the devices and found that the accused persons and their accomplices at large were operating a phone-farming scam centre, based on the configuration of the equipment and operational patterns.
Prosecution said investigations also established that the accused persons fraudulently obstructed communication with the victims, obtained funds from them through mobile money payments, systematically converted them into cryptocurrency, and transferred them outside Ghana.
The prosecution said further investigations also revealed that, from June 2025 to January 2026, the accused persons and their accomplices received various sums of money from mobile accounts of victims and transferred $700,000 into cryptocurrency.
المصدر: MyJoyOnline (GH)