By Sedi Bansah & Alfred K. Dogbey

Some farmers, market women, “Galamsey” operators and artisans in parts of the Eastern Region have fallen victims to another financial scam akin to Pyram and R5 which took place in Ghana in the late 80s and early 90s.

One Eric Asempa, a native of Gomoa Adam in the Central Region, is on the run with over ¢1billion (GH¢100,000) belonging to those who had deposited their monies with his company called Excel Financial Investments Ltd.

Mr. Asempa operated a financial investment company in Kade, Osenase, Esuom and Abomouso, all in the Eastern Region.

According to The Herald’s enquiries, Mr. Asempa started operations in January last year, taking money from farmers, market women, “galamsey” operators and artisans, with the promise of paying them high interest rates and giving out loans of twice the amount they had saved in a period of three months.

The enquiries indicate that the operations were on course until December last year, when clients started having difficulty in retrieving part of their monies and also accessing the loans they had been promised.

The Herald gathered that the relationship between Mr. Asempa and some of his workers, including a partner, one Daniel Ofori-Awuku, got strained, leading to the latter breaking away and forming another financial company, named Hallmark Financial Investment at Abomuoso.

Reports have it that Asempa’s relationship with his workers and clients started deteriorating when he started visiting “jujumen” and fetish priests to help him boost the business by attracting more clients and deposits.

Other reports suggested that he had gone in for a girl lover who had cast a spell on him, making him grant any financial requests she made.

Early this year, operations of Excel Financial Investments Ltd at branches in Abomouso, Esuom and Kade collapsed, leaving only the one at Osenase.

The Herald’s check at Osenase revealed that managing even this branch was a problem as managers were frequently changed.

Mr. Brown Eshun, in his early twenties and a Senior High School (SHS) leaver who now manages the Osenase branch, told The Herald that he was also looking for his boss, Eric Asempa, whom he had never set his eyes on since he took over the job of handling the Osenase branch of Excel Financial Investment Ltd.

“I have never seen him before, I always talk to him on phone. And that is when he is prepared to talk to me, otherwise, he will not pick my calls”, Eshun Brown told The Herald.

According to him, not too long ago, his boss came to the office in his absence to take an amount of GH¢3,500.00 from the secretary, Juliet Oforiwaa.

“I am now saddled with accounting for that money because it belongs to our clients, and all calls to Mr. Asempa to return the money have been in vain. So I also want to get him arrested”, said Brown.

Asked how he has been banking the deposits from his clients since he has never set eyes on his employer, Eshun Brown said Asempa had directed him on phone to open a personal account, for the time being, to run the operations of the company.

News about The Herald’s reporters in the towns that Excel Financial Investment Ltd operated brought people who had fallen victims to its operations to narrate their stories.

A pregnant woman who claims she is in the ninth month of her pregnancy, and is known as Yaa Joyce, said that she had lodged GH¢800.00 with Excel Financial Investments in the hope that upon delivery, she would be able to use the money and the interest accruing thereof, in meeting the expenses associated with the arrival of a new baby.

“But now that the manager is gone with my money, and my time is due, I don’t know what I’m going to do”, she lamented.

A farmer, Jacob Dotsey, told The Herald that his savings and that of his son, Edem Dotsey, lodged with Excel Financial Investments, are almost GH¢1,000.00, insisting that he would do everything possible to get his money back.

Another man who refused to disclose his name, said that he had put not less than GH4, 000.00 in Asempa’s company. According to him, a couple of friends and other people he is aware of, had also lodged money of several thousands of Ghana Cedis in Excel Financial Investments.

At Abomouso District Police Station, Detective Inspector Kumi told The Herald that sometime this year, some people made reports at the station, concerning their inability to retrieve monies they had invested in Excel Financial Investments Ltd. He said that his men were able to get Asempa to the station, where some kind of agreement was reached for him to pay them what he owed.

“Since then, I have not heard anything concerning this matter”, Inspector Kumi told The Herald, adding, “I thought he had settled his debtors. I never knew he has absconded without meeting his obligations.”

Before The Herald’s reporters left the Abomouso police station on Friday at 7pm, other creditors of Excel Financial Investments who had given up hope of ever getting back the money they had invested in the company, started trooping in to lodge complaints.

Meanwhile, Inspector Kumi assured the people who had come to make report on the scandal that the police would step up investigations into the matter, and organize for an arrest warrant to be issued for the arrest of Eric Asempa. Asempa is believed to be hiding either in Kade,Accra or Gomoa Adam.

Readers will recall that some time ago in the late ‘80s, some financial investment companies, namely Pyram and R5, surfaced in Accra, where they lured people into depositing huge sums of money with them, with a promise for large returns, only to abscond with hundreds of thousands of Ghana Cedis.