Aisha owned mining equipment and earth moving machines – Police
A family member of En Huang aka Aisha told the police that Aisha owned mining equipment including excavators and earth-moving machines.
Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Retired Charles Adaba said Gao Jin Cheng, the family member of Aisha also indicated that he was an engineer and he “goes to assess and repair the accused person’s mining equipment at Bepotenten when they developed a fault.”
Mounting the witness, ASP Adaba, who was the case investigator in Aisha’s case in 2017 said he arrested Cheng while he was repairing mining equipment at the site at Bepotenten.
ASP Adaba, the eight-prosecution witness led in evidence by Mrs Yvonne Atakoa Obuobisa, the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) said on May 23, 2017, a case of undertaking small-scale mining without authority was referred to him by the Director General of CID for investigations.
The witness said the case involved five accused persons namely En Huang aka Aisha, Lu Qi Jin, Gao Jin Cheng, Habin Gao and Zhang Zhipeng.
According to the witness, the five accused persons were initially arrested by Officers of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) and investigations had already commenced by the officers.
ASP Adaba said on May 24, 2017, he went to GIS headquarters to ascertain the accused persons’ whereabouts and was told they had been remanded at Nsawam Medium Security Prison.
He said he went to the Prisons in the company of a Chines Interpreter known as John Blankson aka Kobby.
The Witness said while interrogating Aisha, she indicated that “she is married to a Ghanaian called Fabian Anthony domiciled in the USA.”
“She said that her husband owns a supermarket in Kumasi called Golden Asia Company Limited and her nickname Aisha was derived from the locals who patronize the shop and are unable to pronounce the name Asia properly.” the witness added.
ASP Adaba said Aisha indicated that “Golden Asia Limited owned six XCMA excavators and when the excavators break down, she brings in engineers from China with spare parts to repair them.”
The witness said during investigations, the Attorney General’s Office wrote to the Minerals Commission to ascertain whether Aisha had been granted a permit or license to mine.
“The response from the Minerals Commission established that the accused person (Aisha)’s company did not have any license or authorization from the Minerals Commission to undertake any small-scale mining operation or to render mine support to any person or group.
The witness then tendered a copy of the Office of the Attorney- General’s letter to the Minerals Commission and same was admitted in evidence.
According to the witness, his investigations established that Aisha employed the rest of the accused persons to work at her mining site at Bepotenten in the Amansie Central District of the Ashanti region.
The hearing has been adjourned to March 28.
Aisha is standing trial for alleged involvement in illegal mining activities at Bepotenten in the Ashanti Region in the year 2017.
She is being held for undertaking mining operations in the country without a license and facilitating the participation of persons engaged in mining.
The accused, a businesswoman is also being held for re-entry to Ghana after being deported and employing foreign nationals.
Source: GNA