A troubling intelligence report has indicated that some absconders left their home country to fraudulently take Ghanaian citizenship and dupe businesses here. One such imposter is Ms. Niharika Handa or Niharika Gautam, an Indian woman who fled India at the time she had 14 non bailable arrest warrants against her.
Just 11 months after being declared a Proclaimed Offender under India’s Criminal Procedure Code (FIR No. 1653/15, Delhi District Court, August 3, 2021), for cheating and defrauding (see case details at India’s official site https://indiankanoon.org/doc/63817541/.), in 2022, she acquired Ghanaian citizenship along with her son Punar Vasu Handa who continues to have cases pending against him in India in addition to some wrong business dealings in Dubai where he is unable to travel. After arriving in Ghana Niharika Handa committed another fraud of falsifying her Date of Birth from 14 Sept 1961 on Indian passport to 14 Sept 1965 on Ghanaian passport. She also did not meet the qualification of 7 year continuous stay and hid her questionable background.
On the foundation of this falsehood, Ms. Niharika Handa secured visas of UK, UAE, Schengen and others, compromising not only the rule of law in Ghana, but other countries as well. Hooked to her illegal activities, she defrauded a respectable businessman IPMC’s Chairman Mr Amar Deep Singh Hari who has served Ghana for the past 35 years as a technology leader and philanthropist. Claimed to have duped her joint company with him Gold Crest Refinery of millions of dollars, she and her son Vasu Handa not only absconded to UK, but through arm twisting tactics fabricated a false case accusing Mr Hari for trespassing his own offices, stealing his own assets, hoarding Gold and more. A search by National Security at all of Mr Hari’s premises found nothing. Meanwhile, herself residing abroad, she continues to use her cronies in Ghana to fool law enforcement and push false narratives in the media, in an attempt to scare Mr Hari and smear his name.
Interestingly, her imposter activities continue in UK as well. Latest findings indicates that in-spite of Niharika Handa’s new identity as a Ghanaian and a fraudulent birth date, her KYC in the banks could still fail. To avoid that, she has recently opened three different businesses in UK by changing her name to Niharika Ajay Handa (see UK’s official website Niharika Ajay Handa (Rika Pure Gold Limited) – Director Profile – Endole )
Modus operandi of criminal minds and a consistent playbook has been revealed. Analyzing the trail of Niharika Handa and Vasu Handa has brought to light a well thought 419 kind of strategy for defrauding their victims.
Upon duping businesses in one country, travel to another and establish yourself in elite enclaves such as Trassaco Estate in Ghana. Host extravagant parties, rope powerful people in your friendship, boast of ties to global leaders – from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe – and project untouchable influence.
Forge partnerships with reputable businessmen, especially those with philanthropic reputations, and mask your previous trail of questionable conduct.
Leverage these associations to pass KYC checks, open bank accounts, secure loans, attract foreign investments, and obtain goods and services – before fleeing to another jurisdiction.
National Security at Stake: A System Betrayed:
Imposter NIHARIKA HANDA or NIHARIKA GUATAM or NIHARIKA AJAY HANDA.
( A fugitive from abroad has obtained Ghanaian citizenship and a Ghanaian passport by concealing her past and falsifying her identity. That citizenship and passport are not mere conveniences and souvenirs – it is the sovereign’s word that the bearer is one of its own, worthy of its protection. Ms. Niharika Handa stole that word, and with it, the dignity of Ghana itself.
( If citizenship can be obtained under such deceit, then Ghana becomes vulnerable to exploitation by fugitives, fraudsters, and those who seek to cloak themselves in Ghana’s sovereign protection. This not only affects local businesses with whom such a fraudster interacts and forms partnerships, but it is also a grave matter of national security.
( Niharika Handa is further using this newly acquired status to possibly conduct fraud in other nations such as the UK, where she represents herself as a Ghanaian with a new name NIHARIKA AJAY HANDA.
The Unanswered Question
Niharika Handa or Niharika Ajay Handa — lived in Ghana as a fugitive along with her son Vasu Handa. How both of them obtained a police clearance and get Ghana resident permit? How did they not complete the duration of Permanent residence and obtain citizenship, that too with a wrong birth date? With such fraudulent information she secured 50% ownership of Gold Crest Refinery. She then duped her co-shareholder, a respectable businessman Mr. Amar Deep Singh Hari, siphoned millions with her son Punar Vasu Handa, while using Mr Hari’s clean reputation as a façade to conceal her criminal past. Today, she continues falsifying her identity abroad, forming new partnerships to repeat the same cycle of fraud.
If people like Niharika Handa and Vasu Handa can exploit Ghana’s systems, and mainuplate their identity, what prevents terrorists, money launderers, or spies from doing the same? Handa’s stolen citizenship is not just a personal crime – it’s a theft of Ghana’s sovereign dignity, and a fraud against every nation that stamped visas on her passport which carries fake information.
If the situation is not addressed well, how many more such fugitives will see Ghana not as a land of opportunity, but as a loophole to exploit?
An attempt to reach Ms Niharika Handa on her official number 054-012-6281 and Mr Vasu Handa on 054-550-8635 failed.
The case has been submitted at CID Headquarters under Director of Economic crime Mr Benjamin Baah (024-655-9576).
Attachments:
– Niharika Handa’s Indian and Ghanaian passport with different birth dates. This is referenced in the article.
Photos of Ms Niharika Handa and Mr Vasu Handa.
Other references used in the article are
https://indiankanoon.org/doc/63817541/: Details of Niharika’s Criminal Case in India.
Niharika Ajay Handa (Rika Pure Gold Limited) – Director Profile – Endole: The official UK website and the evidence of her new name ‘Niharika Ajay Handa’, with falsified birth date, as referenced in the news article.
