A 69-year-old German widow, Ms. Waltraud Wiesent, is appealing to Ghanaian authorities and the German Embassy in Accra for assistance in confiscating the property of two Nigerian fraudsters who swindled her in 2010. The appeal comes after a 2015 court judgement ordered the convicts, Mark Latif Adijum and Benjamin Taofeek Oluwashola, to refund €248,000 they fraudulently obtained from her under the guise of supplying gold.
Ms. Wiesent, speaking through the Ghanaian Times, has called on Ghana’s Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mr. Godfred Yeboah Dame, to intervene in identifying and confiscating the convicts’ investments and properties in Ghana. She has also requested the German Embassy to engage with Mr. Dame to facilitate the recovery of her stolen funds.
The victim revealed that her bank sold her houses to settle the loan she had taken to send money to the Nigerians, who had presented themselves as legitimate gold dealers in Ghana.
In 2015, Adijum was sentenced to eight years in Nsawam Prisons by the Accra Circuit Court, while Oluwashola was fined GH¢40,000. Adijum’s subsequent appeal at the High Court was unsuccessful.
The case, which saw multiple adjournments, involved the fraudsters introducing themselves under false pretenses and convincing Ms. Wiesent to transfer money through various means, including Money Gram and bank accounts at Ecobank and Guaranty Trust Bank.
As Ms. Wiesent seeks justice and the enforcement of the court’s judgement, this case highlights the challenges of international fraud and the complexities of recovering stolen funds across borders.
