Fake Vice Presidential staffer remanded over visa fraud

A Cape Coast Circuit Court has remanded into Police custody Patrick Nii Torto, a man accused of using the Office of the Vice President to swindle people with the ploy of securing them Canadian visas and work permits. 

Torto allegedly scammed his victims out of GHS5,325 and GHS8,200 posing as a Vice Presidential staffer and captain in the Ghana Armed Forces. 

Operating under the name Dr Patrick Nelson Ayittey, Torto also made his victims believe that he had affiliations with the Canadian Embassy in Ghana, the police told the court on Tuesday. 

He pleaded not guilty to the charge of defrauding by false pretences but the court, presided over by Madam Nana Aba Quiaba Nunoo, remanded him into police custody to assist in further investigations. 

Torto was arrested from his hideout at Abura by the police in Cape Coast following a complaint filed against him at the Abura police Station on Monday, February 16. 

According to the Police, the accused person scammed his victims between December 2025 and January 2026 and failed to refund their monies despite repeated demands. 

The Police conducted a search at his residence and found about 10 Ghanaian passports and other documents, including school certificates, birth certificates, and Ghana Cards. 

Further enquiries also revealed that the suspect was neither an officer of the Ghana Armed Forces or a worker at the Vice President’s Office and had no affiliations with the Canadian Embassy. 

The Police also gathered that Torto was not a medical doctor or doctorate degree holder. 

He is expected to reappear before the court on Tuesday, March 03, 2026. 

Source: GNA