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The Tema Circuit Court B has granted bail to Customs Officer Tahiru Ibrahim Junior in the sum of GH¢100,000 with two sureties and to Louis Ofori, a businessman, in the sum of GH¢80,000 with two sureties.
Tahiru is facing charges of forging the Ghana Card number of Muntalla Damba and Ofori for buying an Acura RDX Station Wagon 4×4 valued at GH¢500,000.00 from Tahiru, which he knew was obtained by means of crime.
According to prosecution led by Inspector Jacob Kuubal, Tahiru edited the name of Damba on the Ghana Card and replaced it with that of Vincent Ekow Assafuah, Member of Parliament for Old Tafo Constituency to facilitate registration of the stolen Acura RDX Station Wagon 4×4 vehicle, the property of the said Assafuah.
The court, presided over by Mrs. Klorkor Okai-Mills, granted the accused persons bail after they pleaded not guilty to their respective charges, and the case was adjourned to September 18, this year, for a case management conference.
Inspector Kuubal told the court that the complainant, Tracy Grace Homadzi, is a Freight Forwarder with Crystal Shipping Company Limited in Tema, while Tahiru is a Custom Officer with the Ghana Revenue Authority in Accra, and Ofori is a car dealer in Tema.
The prosecution explained that in May 2023, the complainant received a bill of lading from Assafuah to clear an Acura RDX vehicle from the Tema port for him.
The prosecution said Homadzi passed the Customs Declaration Entry via Bill of Entry (BOE) number 40523184022 to get the import duty to pay for the clearance of the vehicle and forwarded a copy of the BOE to the MP to inform him about the import duty of the vehicle.
Inspector Kuubal said that while waiting for money from the MP to pay the duty, Homadzi received a telephone call from her boss that Ibrahim had approached his office to say that he was the new owner of the vehicle and that he was requiring the agency to initiate release of the vehicle from their system to enable him to secure release from the shipping line to clear the vehicle.
According to the prosecution, Homadzi made an effort to reach the MP to confirm Tahiru’s assertion, but to no avail. The complainant later entered the operation system and detected that customs duty had been paid in the name of the MP, and consequently went ahead to initiate release for Tahiru, who engaged a different clearing agent to clear the vehicle for him.
Inspector Kuubal said the investigation revealed that prior to the clearance of the vehicle, Tahiru arranged to sell the vehicle to Ofori at the purchase price of GH¢335,657.00 for which Ofori paid GH¢149,657.61 as customs duty on the vehicle and gave the remaining balance of GH¢186,000.00 to him afterwards.
The prosecution said that after selling the car to Ofori, Tahiru forged the Ghana Card bearing the name of Damba and inserted the photograph and name of the MP to facilitate the registration of the car at DVLA.
The prosecution said that Ofori, who knew at the time of buying the vehicle that it was a stolen one, subsequently sold the vehicle to Michael Ahlijah for GH¢370,000.00, who in turn sold it to Emmanuel Horic Ampofo, another car dealer based in Accra, for GH¢400,000.00.
According to the prosecution, Ampofo also sold the car to Marie, a staff member of the Bank of Ghana, for GH¢460,000.00.
Inspector Kuubal said police intelligence led to the arrest of the accused persons and the vehicle, which had been registered with DVLA Number GE1428-23 in the name of Marie/Bank of Ghana.
According to prosecution investigations, at the time Michael Ahlijah and Emmanuel Horic Ampofo, respectively, bought the vehicle, they did not know that it was stolen.
The prosecution said that during investigations, Tahiru refunded GH¢40,000.00 as part of his proceeds from the crime. After investigations, the accused persons were charged with their respective offences and appeared before court.
Source: GNA
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