House help in GH¢80k land fraud granted bail

A 53-year-old house help, Faustina Boatemaa, is at the center of an alleged GH¢80,000 land fraud case that has landed her in court—and now out on bail.

The Amasaman Circuit Court, presided over by Justice Enid Marful-Sau, granted Boatemaa a GH¢100,000 bail with two sureties. 

She stands accused of conspiring with a man identified as Patrick Darko—currently on the run—to defraud businessman Samuel Tweneboah under the guise of selling him land with an uncompleted structure.

The court has ordered her to reappear on August 7, 2025.

According to Chief Inspector Frederick Awuah-Ansah, the trouble began in September 2023. Boatemaa told a family friend, Lydia Tweneboah, that her brother (Darko), based in South Africa, was selling a 0.12-acre parcel of land at Satellite, Accra. Interested, Lydia introduced the opportunity to her brother Samuel, who then inspected the land with Boatemaa.

After negotiations, they settled on a price: GH¢80,000.

Samuel paid GH¢40,000 upfront. A second installment of GH¢20,000 was later wired to an account Darko provided. A third and final GH¢20,000 was also paid into a different account, bringing the total to GH¢80,000.

Things unraveled quickly. The indenture Boatemaa handed over turned out to be fake. And when the complainant tried to begin construction in December 2023—after delivering 1,000 blocks to the site—he was warned via voice message to vacate the land. Later, a bold message scrawled across the building read: “Property of Marbel family. Stay off.”

Efforts to reach both Boatemaa and Darko failed, prompting a police report and Boatemaa’s subsequent arrest.

Boatemaa admitted showing the land and accepting GH¢40,000 but denied intent to defraud. Meanwhile, police are working to trace the bank account holders linked to the transfers, hoping to uncover the full scope of the scheme.