Customs Officer, 2 Others Who Stole Gold Worth $4.3M At KIA Remanded
A Customs Officer and two others, who allegedly stole gold valued at $4,303,234.00 belonging to GND Global Trading LLC, have been remanded.
The trio hauled before an Accra Circuit Court are Emmanuel Dwamena, 37, the Customs Officer; Abdul Karim Lakoh, 38, and Seth Dzamesi, 43, both businessmen.
They have all denied conspiring to steal 75 kilograms of gold bars.
They are expected back in court on March 27.
One other accomplice, George Asamoah, is on the run.
The facts before the court indicate that Abdallah Ali, Farhad Sami, and Zev Volf, citizens of the United Arab Emirates and Australia, respectively, are the complainants in the case.
The first accused Dwamena is a Customs Officer, residing in Kasoa, the second accused Lakoh is a Sierra Leonean, and the third accused Dzamesi is a Ghanaian and self-acclaimed businessman residing at Tantra Hills.
Sometime in March this year, the complainants went to Sierra Leone to buy Gold, and Lakoh, who was among the people who sold the gold to the complainants, promised to assist the complainants from Sierra Leone through transit in Ghana to Dubai with the gold.
The prosecution said on March 16, 2023, the complainants and Lakoh arrived at the Kotoka International Airport with Sky Airline with their personal belongings, including 75 kilos of gold bars.
However, when the complainants landed at Kotoka International Airport Ghana, Lakoh managed to come out of the arrival hall first to meet Asamoah, who came to the Airport in a black Range Rover vehicle to pick up Lakoh.
They met Dzamesi, who was also using customs branded Toyota Hilux Pickup. They managed to steal the bag containing 75kg of the gold bars which they kept in the Toyota pickup.
According to the prosecution, while the complainants were at the transit arrival hall, an Immigration officer sneaked the complainants from the arrival hall and led them to Dwamena at the departure hall. He then drove them to a supposed customs bonded warehouse at East Legon, Accra with House No.18 Shamo Kwei Avenue, to meet Dzamesi who posed as a customs officer.
The bag containing the 75 kilos of gold bars was sent to his office, where Dzamesi forced the complainants out of his office after taking the gold.
Dwamena then drove the complainants back to the Airport and abandoned them.
Lakoh attempted to escape when they got back to the Airport but he was arrested and handed over to the Airport Police for investigation.
Further background checks on Lakoh indicated that the whole gold scandal started in Sierra Leone with the help of Dwamena and the absconded Asamoah both of whom were his Ghanaian accomplices. They succeeded in stealing the gold bars when they touched the Kotoka International Airport in Accra from Freetown.
The prosecution said the accused persons admitted to the offense in their caution statement that they hatched the plot in Sierra Leone with the assistance of the Ghanaian accomplices.
Efforts are being made to arrest the other accomplices.