Over an alleged heist, an Accra Circuit Court has detained a Police Officer, a freelance Journalist, and a Lecturer in police detention for one week.
The accused were accused of robbing several Indian businesspeople of GHC700,000, USD56,450.00, one search iPhone 13, one search iPhone 12 pro max, one search iPhone 11, two searches iPhone 7, one Infinix phone, an HP laptop, a search Dell laptop, and four Indian passports.
Madam Helena Teye, a freelance journalist, Mr Abednego Bortier, a police officer, Mr Francis Omari, a lecturer, and Elizabeth Teye, who is still at large, are the accused.
The prosecution, headed by Police Inspector Ebenezer Teye-Okuffo, informed the Court that following their arrest, they recovered four Indian passports, computers, six mobile phones, and GHC 595,665.00 and USD 45,140.00 in cash.
Mrs Kizita Naa Koowa Quarshie presided over the Court, which did not hear their petitions and deferred the matter until August 3, 2023.
The trial judge further ordered that the recovered goods be returned to the complainants.
The complainants, according to the prosecution, were Girish Sachwani, Manish Kumar, Bhosale Vijau Kantilal, and Lalwani Sunil Kumar, all Indian businesspeople and Osu residents.
The accused were identified as Teye, a freelance writer, Bortier, a police officer stationed at the Nima Police Station, and Mr Omari, an IPMC tutor in Accra.
According to the complaint, on July 19, 2023, at approximately 0800 hours, the complainants were at their home in Osu when the Police Officer dressed in a Police uniform, along with the other accused persons, knocked on their door and introduced themselves as a Special Investigation team and that they were to investigate an illegal activity based on intelligence gathered.
According to the prosecution, the defendants then chained the complainants, ransacked their rooms, and robbed them of the aforementioned objects using threats and intimidation.
The accused then loaded the stolen goods into a waiting Nissan Sentra saloon vehicle and drove away.
According to the prosecution, the complainants later filed a police report.
According to the report, the Police Officer was traced down, recognised as the officer in uniform during the heist, and detained.
During interrogation, he confessed to the crime and led the police to his residence in Dzorwulu, where they recovered GH185,105.00 and USD22,500.00.
According to the prosecution, the Police Officer revealed that the journalist, professor, and Madam Teye were his collaborators.
According to the report, investigations led to the journalist’s arrest in Legon Gardens on July 22, 2023, and during questioning, she told the investigation team that the complainants were engaging in money laundering, which prompted their action.
According to the report, the crew then brought her to her home in Lakeside, near Madina, where GH63,800.00 in cash was discovered during a check of her chamber.
According to the prosecution, she reportedly told the team that the money discovered in her room was her portion of the bounty.
According to the report, she admitted to taking some of the money to her buddy in Teshie after she learned of the Police Officer’s detention.
According to the prosecution, the journalist then took the Police team to the aforementioned acquaintance in Teshie to obtain GH242,100.00 and USS18,640.00.
The professor was also followed down and detained near Danquah Circle in Osu, where he confessed to the crime and led the team to his residence in Amasaman-Fise, where GH64.920.00 and USD 2,000.00 were recovered.
On July 23, 2023, the accused brought the Police to the crime site and revealed how they robbed the complainants.
According to the prosecution, the accused videotaped the heist and the films were recovered from the journalist’s laptop.
It was stated that following the incident, the accused proceeded to a private apartment of the accused Police in La and split the booty.
The team recovered a total of GH595,665.00 and USD45, 140.00 from the accused and kept them as exhibits in court.
