31-year-old trader swindles friend out of GHC42k

A 31-year-old trader has been hauled before the Accra Circuit Court for ‘swindling’ a friend out of USD1,800 and 7,000 Canadian dollars.

The accused person, Bismark Gyane, in September 2020, deceived his friend Tony Amoah, and took possession of his money to the equivalent of GHC 42, 307. 09.

The facts of the case, as presented to the court, were that the complainant, Tony Amoah is a sliding door operator who lives at Odorkor.

The accused person is a trader and lives at Weija.

In September 2020, the complainant’s uncle gifted him $1,800 and 7,000 Canadian dollars before he died.

The complainant handed over the money to his brother Robert Anyan, a taxi driver and a witness in the case, to keep it for him.

The complainant, Amoah, in one of his conversations with the accused person, mentioned the money his uncle left.

According to prosecution, the accused, on hearing this, deceived and demanded the said dollars from him under the pretext that the witness may run away.

He told the complainant that he could be trusted.

Considering they had been friends for a long time, the complainant trusted the word of the accused person and gave him all the money for safekeeping.

Again, they did this in the presence of the witness.

After one week of the demise of the complainant’s uncle, he requested the money from the accused but he failed to provide it.

According to the prosecution, the accused gave untenable excuses, making the complainant suspicious and persistent in demanding the money back.

With the sudden development, the accused went into hiding and later travelled to the United States.

As months passed, the complainant had information that the accused had returned to Ghana.

On January 21, 2021, the complainant reported the case to Police and the accused was arrested.

Upon interrogation, the accused admitted having collected the said amount of money in his caution statement in the presence of an independent witness.

Prosecution said he pleaded to be given time to return the money.

He promised to pay back on February 9, 2021 but failed to do so.

After investigation, he was charged with the offence.

He has since been remanded by the Accra Circuit Court.