TRADERS URGED TO BEWARE OF FRAUDSTERS (PAGE 24)

Traders have been advised not to succumb to the sweet promises of anybody who presents himself as a member of a credit union in the country, only to end up being duped.
The National President of the Association of Credit Union Managers, Mr Boachie Yiadom, made the call in an interaction with the Daily Graphic over recent disturbing scams, through which contributors have lost their contributions to those who had presented themselves as members of the Credit Unions Association of Ghana.
He said there was no doubt that many credit unions had faced some challenges since the concept was introduced in the country in 1955, but their problems were not due to mismanagement but the refusal of those who had accessed credit to pay back the loans.
He said it was wrong for anybody to operate a credit union outside the ambit of the Credit Unions Association in the country. He, therefore, urged traders who might be approached by people claiming to be representatives of credit unions to transact business with them not to hesitate to contact the credit union offices countrywide to check if the companies are really registered members of the association.
“The name credit union cannot be used by any member of the public or any company because such registered union or entity should be a member of the national association,” he explained.
He said one to 10 people could not form a credit union, “you need more than 100 people, who have invested their money in it and the members are responsible for the election of those who will manage the organisation or the fund.”
The national president expressed regret at how some contributors had lost their investments through the criminal activities of those who put themselves up as managers of credit unions or susu unions. He said even though the traditional banking system was in operation in the country it was not everybody who could find their way there, but that should not give room to such unscrupulous members of society to capitalise on the poor traders to rob them of the little they had.
He referred to the publication in the Daily Graphic captioned “Another susu scam” in which operators of a credit union at the Neoplan Station in Accra were alleged to have bolted with GH¢65,000, and the other incident in Takoradi involving about GH¢80,000, and sympathised with the victims of the scams.