Accra: Residents of Akyem Oda have apprehended a man accused of impersonating a mobile airtime vendor to steal GHS3,000 from a senior citizen's mobile money (MoMo) electronic wallet.
According to Ghana Web, in a video footage shared on X and sighted on July 28, 2026, the suspect, identified as Jesse Samuel, confessed to the crime. He admitted to using the stolen funds to repay an outstanding debt on MTN QwikLoan, a popular instant mobile lending service, in hopes of improving his borrowing profile to qualify for a larger loan. Samuel explained that his plan was to use the new loan to repay the money he stole from the senior citizen.
"I owed QwikLoan GH?3,000 and posing as a vendor, I had to transfer airtime for the man who used Telecel. Before I could send the airtime, I needed to transfer money to his account. However, when I checked his account and realised he had GH?10,700, I decided to transfer some of his money to settle my loan," he narrated.
Samuel further detailed, "I then transferred GHS3,000 into my own account so I could repay my loan, with the intention of transferring the money back to him. But before I could clear the message, he asked for his phone back and discovered that I had taken the money from his account."
Initially, Samuel denied taking the money when confronted, but as a crowd began to gather, he admitted his actions to the senior citizen privately. Residents at the scene arrested him and coerced a public confession.
QwikLoan, offered through MTN Ghana's Mobile Money platform, provides quick, short-term unsecured loans based on users' transaction history, making it a widely used service in the region.