Recruitment scam hits Ghana Immigration Service

The Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) have arrested one Awuah Forson, 46, and another, for allegedly defrauding about 30 young people on the pretext of securing for them placements in the service.

It is reported that Forson, together with one Ekow Harkman, 71, managed to defraud about 30 people to the tune of GH¢250,000.00 with the promise of recruitment into GIS.

Assistant Commissioner of Immigration (ACI), James Hayford Boadi, who is Officer-in-Charge of Operations at the Tema Regional Command, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency at Tema, cautioned job seekers of activities of recruitment scams.

He said “this is not the first time such an arrest has been made and certainly it will not be the last,” and warned young people seeking employment to be vigilant.

ACI Boadi said GIS does not sublet its recruitment process to either individuals or groups of individuals; “every recruitment exercise is done by the GIS alone under the supervision of the Ministry of the Interior”.

He advised those who wants to join the service to go through the proper process and not to pay money to anybody, because, at the end, they would not be recruited and they would also lose their money.

Deputy Superintendent of Immigration (DSI), Mercy Budu, who is the GIS Tema Regional Public Relations Officer, said a victim, name withheld, paid about GH¢10,000.00 to the suspect.

She said the victim afterwards went to the Immigration Training Academy at Assin Fosu to find out whether the said Forson was actually an employee of the service.

Ms Budu said the victim discovered that there was no one by that name and reliased that she had been defrauded, her reaction to the fact caught the attention of Assistant Superintendent of Immigration (ASI) Roland Abdul Aziz Issah, who then gave the information to the Tema Regional Command.

She said in a collaborative move by the immigration officers from Assin Fosu and the Tema Regional Command, Forson and Harkman were picked up at Community 8, Tema.

DSI Budu said some GIS officers posed as persons who are interested to recruitment into the service, and the suspects were arrested in that setup.

The Tema GIS Regional PRO advised persons to seek information directly from the GIS as there are officers in every district in Ghana.

She commended the Tema Regional Commander, ACI Kojo Oppong Yeboah and the Commandant of the GIS Training Academy at Assin Fosu, ACI Alex Adu for their oversight during the exercise.