A businessman, Joseph Kwame Donkor, was Friday put before the Accra Circuit Court for allegedly playing a role in the illegal shipment of 1.5 tonnes of gold worth $52 million to Turkey.
He pleaded not guilty to two counts of abetment and was
granted bail in the sum of GH¢100,000, with two sureties, one to be justified.
He was also ordered to report himself to the BNI on Fridays.
Counsel for Donkor, Mr T. Azu, prayed the court, presided
over by Mrs Justice Patience Mills Tetteh, to grant his client bail because he
was a known personality who had businesses and was also the Chairman of the
Gomoa West Constituency of the NPP, for
which reason he would co-operate with the court when granted bail.
The case was prosecuted by Deputy Superintendent of Police
(DSP) Mr A. A. Annor.
Two other persons who are allegedly involved in the illegal
shipment of the gold are Peter Kofi Bedzra, a miner, and Frank Mould, alias
Ebo, a forwarding agent.
Bedzra was the first to be put before the court on February
26, 2013 and granted bail in the sum of GH¢100,000, with three sureties.
He is also expected to report himself to the BNI on Fridays.
On March 19, the second accused person, Mould, was first put
before the court but was remanded to reappear on April 8, 2013.
According to the prosecution, Donkor abetted Bedzra to ship
the gold to Turkey without undergoing the stipulated legal requirement before
the shipment.
The prosecution said on December 29, 2012, a chartered cargo
plane arrived at the Kotoka International Airport to carry the consignment to
Dubai.
On arrival at the airport, Donkor booked room reservations
for the seven-member crew of the cargo plane at the Golden Tulip Hotel in Accra
by using Joedith Ventures Limited, while the crew was handled by
Menzies-Aviance Handling Services Company Limited.
On December 31, 2012, Donkor, another person whose name was
only given as Believer and others saw to it that Mould processed the
consignment for export.
It said while the processing was going on, Donkor kept
communicating with Believer and a representative of Menzies on phone until the
cargo aircraft left the KIA with the 30
boxes of gold around 10:30 p.m.
The prosecution said the cargo aircraft carrying the gold
was, however, intercepted and detained in Turkey because documents accompanying
the gold appeared not to be genuine.
On February 26, 2013, Bedzra pleaded not guilty to one count
of forgery of document, contrary to Section 158 of the Criminal Code 1960, Act
29, while Mould pleaded not guilty to
two counts of abetment of crime and uttering forged documents, contrary to
Section 169 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
According to the prosecution, Bedzra, on December 31, 2012, forged certain
documents, including Geological Survey Department certificate for mineral
samples numbered OC5/6/12/13; Bank of Ghana Foreign Exchange form 4A with
serial number 14317261, and Goods Movement certificate No. A296968.
He allegedly used the said documents to enable him to export
1,500 kilogrammes of gold to Dubai.
Mould, for his part, on December 31, 2013 aided and abetted
Bedzra to forge the documents, as well as uttered forged documents to aid
Bedzra evade the requirement under the law by exporting the 1,500 kilogrammes
of gold.
The facts of the case are that Mould, who is a forwarding
agent, operates at the KIA and in December 2012 Valid Moradi Moghaddam and his
partners, all Arabs, arrived in Ghana to purchase gold.
They got in touch with Omanye Gold Mining Limited which sold
a quantity of gold weighing 1.5 tonnes and valued at $52 million to the Arabs.
According to the prosecution, the buyers packed the gold
into 30 boxes for export to Dubai.
It informed the court that Mould was contracted to process
the consignment for export, and in the process he aided Bedzra to forge
documents of the Geological Survey Department, the Bank of Ghana and goods movement certificate in order to
ship the said 30 boxes through customs and other security checks at the KIA and
subsequently exported the said consignment to Dubai on December 31, 2012.
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