John Fofie, 54, was detained by police in Abuakwa with assistance from the Revenue Protection Unit of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) for installing phony meters for some residents in Kunsu in the Ahafo Ano South West District of the Ashanti Region.
He is alleged to have installed phony meters in the neighborhood to replace people’s post-paid meters that were in debt.
The affected individuals’ homes reportedly had new postpaid meters put by ECG officials, but routine police checks revealed that the culprit had fake meters installed in their place.
The officials leading the revenue mobilization push noticed the issue in the region, which led to the discovery of this.
The exercise, which assisted ECG in recovering GH50 million in less than two weeks, is anticipated to recover all GH1.2 billion that customers owe the power distribution business.
Officials claim that the exercise, which began about two weeks ago, also discovered other illegalities.
After identifying the issue, victims were questioned, which led to the apprehension of John Fofie as the person responsible for placing the fake meters in the neighborhood.
Seven phony postpaid meters were found after inspections were done in his room. ECG has all of them in its possession.
Ing Kofi Danso, the Ashanti Regional Director of the ECG’s Revenue Protection Unit, told the media in Kumasi that they are searching for additional offenders in addition to the person who unlawfully transferred the meters.
According to him, the company’s surveillance over the past few months has shown that some dishonest individuals have been scrambling to install unauthorized meters on the reliable energy distribution network.
He further explained that “such illegal meters are also fake and have been affixed with stickers to appear as though it was coming from the Electricity company of Ghana”.
“We will also not rest on our oars but work hard to arrest and prosecute perpetrators or any persons with intentions to undertake such criminal activities.
There were three-meter detours found. The offenders weren’t around. They are to report to the police station at the request of the authorities.
50 phony prepaid meters have also been found by officials at Kumasi’s Race Course Market.
The surveillance is just one of many operations the ECG is carrying out in the Ashanti Region in response to the rising number of instances of unauthorized use of electricity there.
