Man granted GH¢1.6m bail over theft of drilling machine
An Accra Circuit Court has granted a GH¢1.6 million bail with two sureties to a man accused of stealing a GH¢1,695,216,000.00 worth of Hydraulic drilling machine belonging to the Stanbic Bank Ghana Limited.
The Court presided over by Mrs Susana Eduful asked that Swanzy Joe Nartey’s sureties be justified with a landed title deeds in the names of the accused person.
He denied conspiring with Alfred Kofi Nartey, his father, to steal the item.
He will make his next appearance on February 8, 2023.
His father was not in court when the case was called because he was indisposed.
Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Emmanuel Nyamekye told the Court that Mr Stephen Tefeh and Samuel Appiah are the complainants, Business Support and Resolution Manager and Financial Crime Manager of Stanbic Bank Ghana Limited, respectively.
He said the accused persons were Directors of Quotient Mining and Construction limited and that in August 2014, Stanbic Bank Ghana Limited disbursed a Finance Lease Facility of GH¢1,695,216.000.00 to the Quotient Mining and Construction Limited through its Directors- the accused persons.
DSP Nyamekye said the money was utilised to finance the purchase of a Hydraulic Drilling Vehicle and one start-up machine.
The Company, he said, had failed to adhere to the terms of the agreement, which resulted in a civil action instituted against it.
The prosecution said the Bank obtained judgment against the Directors of the Company and the Court gave an order for interim preservation of the machine but they bolted with the machine.
The Court heard that the complainants petitioned the Director General of Criminal Investigative Department of the Ghana Police Service for investigation and the accused persons were invited several times to report themselves to the police but they refused to do so.
DSP Nyamekye said Alfred Nartey was arrested at Moree, a suburb of Cape Coast and in his cautioned statement, he stated that his son had sent the Machine to Liberia without his knowledge.
Swanzy Nartey, the prosecution said, was also arrested on January 20, 2023, at Elubo and in his cautioned statement, he stated that the machine was taken to Liberia by one George without his consent but he was making efforts to bring the machine back to Ghana.
He said after investigations they were charged.
Source: GNA