British grandmother who fell for £1million romance fraud was killed in Ghana automobile crash after she went to attempt to retrieve her fortune, inquest hears

A British widow died in a car crash in Ghana after she was conned by romance fraudsters out of her entire £1million life savings, an inquest has heard.

Janet Fordham, 69, suffered fatal injuries in the collision on February 14, 2023 having travelled to the country the previous October.

She had travelled to the African country to meet a man who claimed could help her get her money back.

They had become romantically involved and were on their way to get approval from a member of his family for marriage then the crash happened, the inquest heard.

Devon Coroner’s Court heard Mrs Fordham had fallen victim to several online scams over a five-year period that saw her lose her home and life savings.

At the time of travelling to Ghana, the retired housekeeper was living in a caravan at the home of her son Martin and daughter-in-law Melanie Fordham in Honiton, Devon.

Mrs Fordham began using online dating websites in 2017 and met a man claiming to be a British Army sergeant major working in Syria who needed her help to get gold bars to the UK.

‘He was retiring soon to return to the UK. She said they were in love and they were going to buy a house together,’ Melanie said.

‘Janet mentioned nothing about any money at that point, but I remember candidly saying to her that it all seemed a little unbelievable, and the next thing he would be asking for money.

‘I told her categorically not to send him any. Janet had been sending money to him, but we didn’t find out about this until years later. I believe she gave him around £150,000.’

The widow later learned she had been further defrauded by a ‘diplomat’ after her UK bank accounts were frozen.

‘I think she realised that she had been scammed, but initially struggled to accept it,’ her daughter-in-law said.

‘We’re not clear how Janet transitioned from one fraud to the next.

‘We became aware that she transferred money by several means, including bank transfers, wire transfers at the post office, and potentially a travel agent.

‘The banks, post office etc stopped her from using their services, transferring money, because they recognised that it was fraud.’

The inquest heard that another man, named as Kofi, contacted Mrs Fordham saying he was a doctor in Ghana working part-time in a friend’s mobile phone repair shop.

‘He was working on a phone that saw messages to and from Janet on there. He believed Janet had been scammed,’ Mrs Fordham said.

‘He felt compelled to help her get her money back. So, he took her phone number and made contact.’

Police spoke to Mrs Fordham about Kofi, but officers could not further the investigation due to her lack of engagement.

The court heard Mrs Fordham contacted police again because her mother-in-law was continuing to transfer money abroad using bitcoin and ATMs.

‘Whether she was in so deep, she couldn’t accept it was all gone, she had to keep piling money in the hope of getting something back,’ she said.

‘Whether she genuinely believed what she was being told, we will never know.’

She also borrowed money from other family members, which totalled around £140,000, and was also in arrears on loans and credit cards.

‘Janet wouldn’t tell us much, so we started opening some of her mail and discovered that she had cashed in a chunk of her pension,’ Melanie said.

‘She was withdrawing the maximum £500 a day, we believe to stockpile, and then transferred cash as the banks had stopped her doing electronic transfers.

‘I was very aware that we don’t know everything and there is probably a whole lot more.’

In October 2022, Mrs Fordham flew to Ghana to meet Kofi who she was romantically linked to.

‘As a family, we tried everything to stop her, but she was adamant,’ her daughter-in-law said.

‘I spoke to her doctor, sought legal advice, but because she was of sound mind, albeit brainwashed, she was deemed to have capacity and there was nothing we could do.’

Detective Sergeant Ben Smith, of Devon and Cornwall Police, said officers had contact with Mrs Fordham about allegations of fraud in 2017, 2020 and 2022.

‘It shows Janet Fordham as a sustained victim of fraud throughout that period,’ he said.

‘It’s believed that Janet has sent a considerable amount of money, estimated at between £800,000 and £1 million over that period.

‘As a result, she had used all her savings, sold her home and land, and was living in a caravan with Martin and Melanie in their garden.

‘Police throughout these investigations have endeavoured to do everything they can to persuade Janet not to have any contact with the criminals and not to hand over money.

‘There was no issue with capacity and that she was making these decisions of her own free will.’

Det Sgt Smith said on the day she died Mrs Fordham and Kofi were driving from Accra to the Oti region ‘to get approval from a family member for marriage’.

Kofi was driving when the car left the road and crashed, with Mrs Fordham suffering fatal injuries.

He later pleaded guilty to driving offences and received a suspended prison sentence and fine, the court heard.

Det Sgt Smith confirmed there was no evidence of any third-party involvement in Mrs Fordham’s death.

In later comments, Senior Devon coroner Philip Spinney said Janet died from a head wound, but British pathologist Dr Deborah Cook could not say how it had been caused.

The coroner said Janet ‘lost a considerable amount of money from 2017 to 2022’ estimated to be between £800,000 and £1 million.

He said Devon and Cornwall Police investigated but Janet made no formal complaint to them and did not cooperate fully with the force.

‘There are some inconsistences and gaps in the evidence as to how she was taken to hospital,’ adding it had not been rigorously scrutinised.

He recorded that Janet died from a head injury as a result of a road traffic collision. 

The inquest continues.