Koforidua, July 24, GNA - Two men who defrauded 24 persons of 351 million cedis and 8,050 US dollars under the pretext of recruiting them for employment in the United States of America have been remanded by a Koforidua Circuit Court on Thursday.

The accused, Martin Kwabena Appiah, and "Dr" Isaac Kwakye Jonah, Project Manager and acting Chief Executive Officer of a GIDC International Limited respectively, pleaded not guilty.

Police Chief Inspector Theophilus K. Nyadu prosecuting, told the court on Thursday that in July 2002, the two accused persons presented themselves to 24 complainants that they have connections with the United States Embassy and UN bodies who asked them to recruit employees to work with them in the US.

He told the court, presided over by Mr S.G. Suurbarreh, that the accused told the victims that they must have undergone HIV/AIDS test as well as pay various sums of monies in cedis or dollars to qualify for recruitment.

The prosecutor said after collecting the amounts as well as passports and other documents, the accused went into hiding until July 19, this year, when Appiah was arrested at Koforidua. He said Appiah then led the police to Accra where Jonah was also arrested and a check on their premises led to the recovery of 24 passports suspected to be faked.