Ghana arrests Nigerian for allegedly defrauding Ukrainian $6.5m

Ghana’s Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) has arrested a 52-year-old Nigerian, Sunny Anwamini (Sam), for allegedly defrauding a Ukrainian businessman of $6.5 million.

Anwamini, a resident of Ghana, was arrested by EOCO in an intelligence-led operation in partnership with state security operatives on Wednesday.

According to Nigerian Abroad, Anwamini met Mazen Farakh, the victim, in December 2018, and the latter expressed interest in purchasing pieces of an expensive wood known as teak.

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Anwamini, who has been accused of working with some Ghanaian accomplices, received the sum of $6.5 million from the Ukrainian businessman, sent photographs of fake pallets of teak stored in bonded warehouses and promised to get the goods delivered to Ukraine.

Three years after Anwamini got the money, according to Farakh’s report to EOCO, he did not deliver the product as agreed upon.

Anwamini was held at the police headquarters in Accra on March 27, 2022, but was subsequently released after a brief detention that the complainant said was carried out in “very compromising circumstances”.

The businessman from Ukraine and his Ghanaian partners are concerned about the administration of justice in Ghana as they contend that some authorities are putting pressure on them to release Anwamini.

In the meantime, Farakh wants to get his $6.5 million back from Sam and is pleading with the authorities to make sure Anwamini faces the full force of the law.

FIJ