GRi in Court -
Ghana 07 - 07 - 2000
Currency
traffickers' case slated for July 13
Four remanded in police custody for stealing
Liberian
remanded in telephone deal
Accra
(Greater Accra) 07 July 2000
The Osu
Community tribunal on Thursday remanded in prison custody for the second time
Peter Okyere Darko, a pastor, who allegedly collected more than three million
cedis from three disabled persons under the pretext of securing travelling
documents to enable them to travel to America.
Darko, who
pleaded guilty to defrauding by false pretences, was arraigned before the court
the first time on June 22. He will make
his third appearance on July 13.
The
accused, also a member of Aid Child Evangelism Association, a Non-Governmental
Organisation, wept in the dock when Mrs Ivy Heward-Mills, who chaired the
tribunal, asked him to explain his action of not sympathising with disabled
persons.
He refunded
500,000 cedis out of the 3.1 million cedis collected to enable the
complainants, two with clutches and one in a wheelchair, to return to Kumasi
from where they had come to hear the case.
Prosecuting,
Police Chief Inspector Margaret Awuni said the complainants are members of the
Ghana Society for the Physically Disabled. On May 23, this year, the
complainants attended the 25th anniversary of the National Commission on Women
and Development (NCWD) at the National Theatre in Accra, where Darko introduced
himself to them as an evangelist after the programme.
She said
during their conversation, Darko told them that he was preparing to attend a
conference in Beijing on June 9, this year, and needed participants to attend
as well.
Darko
requested the complainants to pay 3.5 million cedis each to enable him to
secure the necessary documents for the trip.
According
to the prosecutor, on May 27, this year, Darko collected 1.5 million cedis from
the disabled persons. On June two, he collected 1.8 million cedis and later
352,000 cedis.
GRi../
Accra
(Greater Accra) 07 July 2000
The Osu
Community Tribunal on Thursday adjourned to July 13 for definite hearing a case
in which 35 alleged currency traffickers are charged with acts tending to
depreciate the national currency.
Thirty of
the accused persons are Malians and Nigerians while five of them are Ghanaians.
The aliens are also charged with being prohibited immigrants.
They have
pleaded not guilty and are on five million cedis bail each, with a surety to be
justified. The foreigners will in addition produce their relevant residential
documents.
During an
earlier sitting, a witness in the case, Nana Adansi Twum-Barima, filed a motion
at the tribunal asking for the release of 7,000 dollars seized from one of the
accused persons, Alhaji Nawa, by the police during a raid on illegal currency
traffickers on April 17, this year.
In an
affidavit, which accompanied the motion, Nana Twum-Barima, a businessman,
stated that he had known Nawa and trusted him and therefore issued a cheque for
22.2 million cedis to him for the purchase of dollars.
He averred
that the amount was meant for the payment of the school fees of his son, who is
resident in the United States.
Nana
Twum-Barima stated further that Nawa told him that he did not tell the police
about the source of the money on the day of his arrest because he had travelled
outside Accra.
He said all
attempts to convince the police that the money belonged to him had proved
futile.
The
prosecutor, Police Chief Inspector Margaret Awuni, told the tribunal, chaired
by Mrs. Ivy Heward-Mills, that prosecution would have to crosscheck the truth
in the matter and the authenticity of the cheque before the release of the dollars
to Nana
Twum-Barima.
At the last
adjournment, counsel for some of the accused persons narrated the ordeal their
clients went through in respect of the seizure of their money by the police and
applied verbally to the tribunal for the release of the amounts collected from
them.
Based on
this, the tribunal advised counsel to properly make a motion for the release of
the cedi notes while the foreign monies were kept in the custody of the
prosecution until the determination of the case.
The case
for the prosecution is that at about 1500 hours on April 17, the Police
Striking Force mounted an operation at Tudu, Cow Lane and Okaishie in Accra to
flush out currency traffickers.
Chief
Inspector Awuni said 360,000 cedis, 650 dollars and calculators were found on the
Ghanaians during a search while 35 million cedis, 402,500 CFA, 12,744 dollars,
4,010 pounds 1,350 Swiss Franc, 5,510 Deutsche marks, 124 Canadian dollars and
20 calculators were found on the aliens.
GRi../
Four remanded in police custody for stealing
Sekondi
(Western Region) 07 July 2000
A Sekondi
Circuit Tribunal on Wednesday remanded four persons in prison custody to
re-appear on July 12 for stealing constructional equipment belonging to Shams
Company Limited and valued at about 53 million cedis.
They are
Mohammed Musah, 24, garden boy, Kwadwo Sekyere, 29, welder, Kwaku Boahen, 48,
trader, and Haruna Ibrahim, 30, vulcanizer.
Apart from
Musah, who pleaded guilty, the other three accused persons denied the charge of
aiding and abetting.
The
tribunal, chaired by Mr Frederick Miezer-Anyimiah heard that the complainant,
Mr Toufic Shams, is the Managing Director of Shams Company Limited and lived
with Musah.
In April
this year, Boahen, Sekyere and Ibrahim assisted Musah to steal the equipment -
vibrator and sand blasting machines – from the Managing Director’s house.
They sold
the vibrator to an unknown person resident in Half Assini for one million
cedis.
About two
weeks after, Musah and the other accused persons were arrested when they
attempted to sell the blasting machine.
GRi../
Accra
(Greater Accra) 07 July 2000
The Osu
Community Tribunal on Thursday remanded in custody, an unemployed Liberian, who
allegedly used an expired telephone card to make a call to the United States,
incurring a debt of 390,000 cedis to the Ghana Telecom.
Benedict
Ballah, 30, pleaded not guilty to causing economic loss to the public company.
He will reappear on July 13.
The
Prosecution told the tribunal chaired by Mrs Ivy Heward-Mills that at about
12:35 hours on June 14, Mr Michael Kudawu, a technician at the headquarters of
Ghana Telecom in Accra, went to effect repair works on some telephone lines at
the Cantonments in Accra where he decided to make a call in one of the booths.
Mr Kudawu
spotted Ballah, who was in the booth for over two-and-half hours, but when he
drew nearer he detected that Ballah was using an expired telephone card, which
was not fully inserted into the slot of the machine.
According
to the prosecutor, Ballah was arrested and handed over to the police, adding
that when a counter check by the Ghana Telecom was made, it showed that the
accused has incurred a debt of 390,000 cedis.
GRi../