Four freed in Asamoah Gyan extortion case
Four persons who were allegedly accused of extorting money from Ghana’s Black Stars Captain, Asamoah Gyan to halt the publication of rape and sodomy tape against him have been acquitted and discharged.
An Accra Circuit Court presided over by Mrs. Afia Agbanu Kumador in her ruling on a submission of no case held that the prosecution has not been able to establish a case against the accused persons.
The accused persons are Osarfo Anthony, an Entertainment writer, Chris Handler a blogger, Sarah Kwablah a student and Ekow Micah, a Musician.
They have been facing charges of extortion and conspiracy to commit crime for the past three years.
The facts as narrated by Prosecution was that Mr Anim Agyei is the complainant and a manager of Asamoah Gyan while Anthony is an employee of Handler.
The Prosecution said in June 2016, an alleged sodomy story broke out in Ghana’s electronic and print media and attributed to Asamoah Gyan.
According to the Prosecution in the said publication Sarah alleged that Gyan had sexual intercourse and anal sex with her and she became pregnant.
The Prosecution said Sarah discussed the matter with Micah who then met Anthony and Handler and they in turn decided to publish the story on their website in order to scare Gyan to give them money.
The Prosecution said Anthony and Handler published the first story on their website and promised to release the sex tape in their subsequent editions.
Prosecution said a witness in the case who read the story on their website then informed the complainant.
According to the Prosecution the complainant contacted Anthony on phone and he threatened to release the sex tape unless a huge amount was paid or a house was bought for Sarah.
The prosecution said in the complainant in a bid to protect the image of Gyan asked Anthony and Handler to hold on with the publication.
Prosecution said Anthony and Handler threatened to defame the Skipper and called for swift payment of the money.
The prosecution said the complainant feigned interest to pay and When Handler was contacted the accused persons charged GH¢30,000.00.
According to the Prosecution the complainant bargained with them till they settled on GH¢25,000.00.
Prosecution said the complainant, Anthony and Handler agreed to meet at the Landing Restaurant at the Kotoka International Airport.
The Prosecution said the complainant then reported the matter to the Police and that at the restaurant Anthony was given $1,000, GH¢6,000.00 and a cheque of GH¢15,000.00 by the complainant.
The prosecution said while taking the monies Anthony was arrested and later the rest of the accused persons.
Source: GNA