Samuel Inkoom, a former Ghana Black Stars player, has been granted GHC 100,000.00 bail with two sureties for visa fraud.

The Court, presided over by Mrs. Susana Eduful, ruled that each of Inkoom's sureties earn at least GHC5,000.

He must also provide a photo of his passport to the Court Registry.

Inkoom is accused of taking USD4,000 from one Madam Elizabeth Atarime Mboh Awuni under the guise of obtaining a USA travel visa for her customer, but he has disputed this.

The court requested that Inkoom appear before it on January 22, 2025.

According to Police Chief Inspector Tetteh Boafo, Madam Awuni was an entrepreneur and a resident of Oyarifa, Accra, as did Madam Abigail Owusu, a public servant who also lived in Oyarifa, Accra, and both were complainants in the case.

Inkoom, the accused, is a footballer from Sekondi Takoradi in the Western Region.

In December 2023, Complainant Awuni met Inkoom at Achimota while scouting new footballers. During their conversation, Inkoom mentioned his interest in travel and tours in addition to his scouting profession.

According to Chief Inspector Boafo, Inkoom reportedly promised Madam Boafo that he could secure visas to the United States and Canada for interested applicants to travel outside the nation within six weeks for a cost of $4,000.00.

The complainant became convinced after such representation and paid the accused $4,000.00 to acquire her client a visa to the United States of America, the Court heard.

She stated that during the process, complainant Owusu met Inkoom, and based on the same representation he made, she expressed interest and paid Inkoom $2,000.00 to acquire her a visa to the United States of America.

According to Chief Inspector Boafo, after receiving the monies in question, Inkoom promised delivery within six to eight weeks; however, the designated timeframe passed, and he failed to keep his promise and went into hiding.

According to the Prosecution, the complaints feared foul play and reported the matter to the Police, which led to the accused person's detention.

Inkoom provided an investigative caution statement in which he admitted to collecting the aforementioned amounts of money from the complainants and stating that he gave the same amounts to his partner based in the United States of America to expedite the visa application process.

Meanwhile, Inkoom failed to furnish the Police with the essential information to aid investigations, therefore his allegations were deemed fabrications, she informed the Court.

According to police, subsequent investigations revealed that the accused person did not have a partner in the United States as he said, and that he used such a false presentation to defraud the victims.

During the investigation, a cash exhibit worth $2000.00 was recovered from Inkoom, the accused, and handed over to complainant Awuni.

Following an investigation, Inkoom was charged.


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