Two businessmen jailed 17 years over theft of electronic gadgets
An Adentan Circuit Court has sentenced two individuals to a total of 17 years in prison for their involvement in stealing electronic gadgets worth GHC298,900 in Okponglo, Accra.
James Ugochukwu Mwobi, a 33-year-old businessman, received a 12-year sentence for charges including unlawful damage, stealing, and unlawful entry.
His accomplice, 36-year-old Solomon Otis, was sentenced to five years for conspiracy to commit a crime and dishonestly receiving stolen property.
The two accused persons pleaded guilty to the charges.
The court, presided over by Mrs Sedinam Awo Kwadam, convicted them based on their own pleas.
An accomplice known as Awudu Mamudu, also referred to as Focus remains at large.
The prosecution, led by Chief Inspector Maxwell Lanyo, informed the court that the complainant, Frederick Sackey, is a businessman.
Chief Inspector Lanyo said Mwobi and Otis are business partners operating at Kwame Nkrumah Circle.
On September 26, 2024, Sackey visited his shop at Okponglo, where he sells laptops, mobile phones, tablets, and their accessories.
The prosecution stated that Sackey discovered his upstairs storeroom had been burgled after the thieves cut and damaged the burglar-proof bars on the window.
They stole 91 assorted laptops and 51 tablets, valued at GHC366,200, and escaped through the window with the stolen items.
The prosecutor disclosed that on September 29, 2024, one of the stolen tablets, identified by serial number GPSZ2024070418582, was spotted on display in a showcase at Kwame Nkrumah Interchange.
On September 30, 2024, the owner of the showcase, Stephen Akwaboah, who is a witness in the case, was arrested, and the tablet was subsequently retrieved.
The prosecution informed the court that Stephen Akwaboah identified one Charles Chubike Eze, also a phone dealer, who was subsequently arrested.
Eze claimed that Otis sold him the stolen tablet and additional items.
Following this, Otis was arrested, and he disclosed that he had purchased two of the tablets from an unknown individual whose whereabouts he could not provide.
The prosecution informed the court that on October 3, 2024, police gathered intelligence indicating that two laptops matching the description of the complainant’s stolen items had been located at Tiptoe Lane, Circle.
A team of police personnel was dispatched to the area, where they apprehended one Chukuemeka Itiri, who is also a witness in the case.
The prosecution stated that Itiri revealed that Mwobi had given him the laptops to sell.
He then guided the police to Plus One Lodge, where Mwobi was arrested.
A subsequent search of Mwobi’s room resulted in the recovery of two tablets and a laptop, all identified as belonging to the complainant.
The prosecution stated that investigations revealed that on September 26, 2024, Mwobi broke into Sackey’s storeroom at Okponglo.
He used a pair of pliers to damage the metal window bars, gained access to the room, and stole 91 laptops and 51 tablets.
The prosecution said Mwobi contacted Otis and Mamudu on the same day and informed them that he wanted to dispose of the stolen items.
On September 26, 2024, Otis and Mamudu met with Mwobi at his room in Plus One Lodge, where they received 21 “Oteeto” tablets and 22 laptops.
The prosecution said that Otis made an initial payment of GHc1,000 to Mwobi before they left with the stolen items.
Mwobi, according to the prosecution, confessed to the crime, while Otis admitted to selling 19 of the tablets to one Victoria Osei Praku, a witness in the case, at a price of GHc250 each.
He persuaded her (Praku) that the tablets had been brought in by his brother from Dubai.
The prosecution said the 19 tablets were retrieved.
It said Mamudu got wind of the matter and went into hiding.
On October 4, 2024, Mwobi led the police to Sackey’s shop and confirmed it as the location from which he had stolen the laptops and tablets.
The prosecution said 22 tablets and three laptops had been recovered, and efforts were ongoing to apprehend Mamudu.