KASOA, GHANA – A man identified as a Liberian citizen, Sam Akai, is one of two persons recently arrested by police in Ghana for allegedly posing as gays to blackmail and defraud their ‘homosexual’ victims.
The other suspect has been identified as Philip Larbi, a Ghanaian.
The Ghanaian radio station City FM reports that the pair was picked up by the Kasoa Divisional Police Command at Gomoa Budumbura, a suburb of Kasoa in the Central Region.
The suspects are known for using a LGBTI app called ‘grindr’ to lure their victims, according to Kasoa Divisional Police Commander, ACP David Agyemang Agyem.
ACP Agyemang Agyem explained that the suspects pose as gays and lure fellow LGBTI men to Gomoa Budumburam under the guise of meeting their partners for sex.
However, they then turn around to threaten the victims at knife-point and rob them of all their monies and other valuables, the Ghanaian police commander added.
“They lure these victims to the Budumburam Camp and rob them of their valuables and sometimes transfer monies of their victims from their mobile money wallet onto their phone,”ACP Agyemang Agyem told Accra-based City FM.
He further disclosed that the suspects usually take naked photos of the victims and later use the pictures to blackmail them for money.
“They use these photos and videos as bait to demand for money occasionally from their victims,” the Commander added.
Police in Ghana are still searching for the group’s leaders only identified as Gadaffi and Sparta, who are said to currently be on the run.
“We have given out pictures of them to the general public and hope to arrest them soon, but the public must be on the lookout for them,” ACP Agyemang Agyem said, while cautioning who visits the “grindr” website to “watch out for criminals since they are looking for people to devour.”
