Court grants unemployed man GH¢85,000.00 bail for car fraud
An Accra Circuit Court on Monday granted a GH¢85,000.00 bail with three sureties to an unemployed man for defrauding a sound engineer of $14,500 under the pretext of securing him a Honda CRV vehicle.
The Court ordered that two of the three sureties must be justified.
The accused Kennedy Kumi is to report once a week to the police until the final determination of the case.
He has been charged with conspiracy to commit crime and defrauding by false pretense, but his plea was not taken by the court.
He will make his next appearance on June 8.
Meanwhile, Kumi’s accomplice, one Asare, who posed as a clearing agent and also took GH¢39,246.00 from the same victim has been charged with defrauding by false pretense, and is currently on the run.
Detective Chief Inspector Simon Apiorsornu told the Court presided over by Mrs Afia Owusua Appiah that Mr Stephen Kwadwo Tebi, the complainant is a sound engineer and a resident of Dodowa whilst Kumi is unemployed.
He said in March 2019, the complainant informed his friend, one Simon Nyarko, a witness in the case of his interest to buy a Honda CRV from the United States of America.
He said Kumi, who knew both the complainant and the witness, was informed and he promised to buy the vehicle for the complainant at a cheaper price.
The prosecution said the accused then demanded $14,500 dollars from the complainant as the cost of the vehicle, including shipment charges.
The Prosecution said the money was paid in the presence of the witness and Kumi promised to deliver the vehicle within one month, adding that after some two weeks, Kumi called the complainant and informed him that the container carrying the vehicle had arrived at the port and they had to meet the agent at the Jubilee Terminal, Tema.
Detective Chief Inspector Apiorsornu said both complainant and Kumi met Asare, who introduced himself as the clearing agent and demanded GH¢5,000.00 as further charges on the documentation of which the complainant paid.
He said Asare again demanded and collected GH¢34,246.70 from the complainant as duty charges and assured him of clearing the vehicle and would deliver it the following day.
The Prosecution said Asare after collecting the sum of GH¢39,246.70 failed to fulfill his part of the agreement and switched of his mobile phone.
He said all efforts made by complainant to reach Asare proved futile.
He said on November 6, 2019, the complainant reported the matter to the police which led to the arrest of Kumi but he denied defrauding the complainant as well as failing to provide the documents covering the buying and shipment of the vehicle.
Source: GNA