Economic History: 2 Accused of $1‐Million Cocoa Swindle
A man from Ghana and his New York‐born wife have been accused of swindling the Republic of Equatorial Guinea out of $l.2‐million by pocketing more than half, of the proceeds of $2.25‐million in cocoa‐bean sales to a Wall. Street concern.
Highlights:
- A man from Ghana and his New York‐born wife
- Have been accused of swindling the Republic of Equatorial Guinea out of $l.2‐million
- By pocketing more than half, of the proceeds of $2.25‐million in cocoa‐bean sales to a Wall. Street firm.
Economic History: 2 Accused of $1‐Million Cocoa Swindle
By Morris Kaplan
March 28, 1973
Source: NYT
A man from Ghana and his New York‐born wife have been accused of swindling the Republic of Equatorial Guinea out of $l.2‐million by pocketing more than half, of the proceeds of $2.25‐million in cocoa‐bean sales to a Wall. Street concern.
The sales represent 7 per cent of the nation's total exports last year.
A 38‐count indictment, by a Federal grand jury; unsealed yesterday in United States District Court in Brooklyn, accused Mrs. Enid Tyler Allotey, 52 years old, and her husband, Addequaye, 44, of mail and wire fraud.
While living at 251 St. Marks Place, in the St. George section of Staten Island, the Alloteys; formed a partnership under the name of Stephen & Co. to import 4,000 metric tons of cocoa beans from Equatorial Guinea, according to the indictment.
Arrested in Accra
It said the couple contracted with officials of that small West African country to buy a superior grade of cocoa beans, grown on the island of Fernando Po, reportedly at a price ] above the American market value.
The indictment alleges that they then sold the beans to the General Cocoa Company, 82 Wall Street, at the market value, knowing that they had entered into a losing proposition and that they did not intend to make full payment to the Government of Equatorial Guinea.
The transactions covered by the indictment were alleged to have taken place between Sept. 1, 1970, and June 30, 1971, after which the Alloteys terminated the partnership and kept the money, according to the indictment. They left the United States, traveled, to the Bahamas and Europe and never settled for long in one place, postal authorities said.
They were arrested recently in Accra by the Ghanaian police in response to extradition proceedings, begun by the Department of Justice. Conviction on each count carries a maximum five‐year prison sentence and a $1,000 fine.
United States Attorney Robert A. Morse said the General Cocoa Company had paid the Alloteys $1,015,755 for the first shipment—2,000 metric tons—of cocoa beans. As part of the alleged scheme to induce the Government of Guinea to release shipping documents on the second shipment, then held by their agent, the Bank of Montreal, the Alloteys issued a valid personal check of $749,874 and the second shipment was sent to General Cocoa.
Couple Lived High
According to Emanuel A. Moore, an assistant United States attorney who presented the case to the grand jury, Mrs. Allotey was the “sophisticated, strong personality” in the deals, She “did the talking,” he reported, and impressed bankers here to issue letters of credit.
Interpol, the international association of police agencies, said it had found during a two‐year investigation that the Alloteys had dissipated their profits in expensive living and at gambling casinos in the Baha mas and Europe. It reported that Allotey, had lost about $750,000 in gambling at the Paradise Isle casino in Nassau, the Bahamas.
From April 20 to May 16, 1971, the couple reportedly lived at the Brittania Beach Hotel in Nassau and skipped out leaving a $140,000 debt in the casino.
The Interpol dossier, as reported by postal authorities, contains alleged frauds, bad debts, skipped hotel bills and car thefts from the Bahamas to England, France, West Germany, Norway, Sweden and Morocco.
Two convictions in 1951 were recorded in England against Allotey for “false pretenses.” The Netherlands deported him as an undesirable alien on Dec. 12, 1951. In Dusseldorf, West Germany, he was charged with fraud and car theft and, in Paris, with car theft.
He also faced car theft charges in Morocco. The disposition of these charges was not available. Interpol also reported that the couple left without paying sizable hotel bills in Sweden and in Norway.
A spokesman for the General Cocoa Company said that the Alloteys had been introduced in a letter written by the First Secretary and charge d'affaires and Interior Ambassador of Equatorial Guinea to the United Nations.
Cocoa beans are a major staple of Equatorial Guinea's struggling economy. The budget for 1969–70 envisaged revenue of $11.25‐million and expenditure of nearly $18‐million, according to the latest figures available.
