Two persons who were allegedly involved in the illegal shipment of 1.5 tonnes of gold valued at $52 million to Turkey were Tuesday put before the Accra Circuit Court.
Peter Kofi Bedzra, a miner, who was first arraigned before
the court on February 26, 2013, was granted bail in the sum of GH¢100,000, with
three sureties.
He is also expected to report himself to the Bureau of
National Investigations (BNI) on Fridays.
The second accused person, Frank Mould, alias Ebo, a
forwarding agent, was first put before the court yesterday and remanded to
reappear on April 8, 2013.
The court was presided over by Mrs Justice Patience
Mills-Tetteh, a High Court judge with additional responsibility as a Circuit
Court judge.
Bedzra has pleaded not guilty to one count of forgery of
document, contrary to Section 158 of the Criminal Code 1960, Act 29, while
Mould has pleaded not guilty to two counts of abetment of crime and uttering
forged documents, contrary to Section 169 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
Bedzra is alleged to have forged certain documents,
including a Geological Survey Department certificate for mineral samples,
numbered OC5/6/12/13; a Bank of Ghana foreign exchange form 4A with serial
number 14317261 and a goods movement certificate No. A296968, by using the said
documents to enable him to export 1,500 kilogrammes of gold to Dubai.
Mould, for his part, is alleged to have aided and abetted
Bedzra to forge the documents, as well as uttering forged documents, to aid
Bedzra to evade the requirement under the law by exporting the 1.5 tonnes of
gold.
The facts of the case, as narrated by Deputy Superintendent
of Police (DSP) Mr A. A. Annor, are that Mould, who is a forwarding agent,
operates at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA).
In December 2012, one 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 them.
According to the prosecution, the buyers packed the gold
into 30 boxes prepared for export to Dubai.
It informed the court that Mould was contracted to process
the consignment for export and in the process aided Bedzra to forge documents
of the Geological Survey Department, a Bank of Ghana foreign exchange form and
a 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.
Investigations are ongoing.
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