Director on 340 million-cedi bail

Tanko Abudulrahman Shardow, Managing Director of Pyram, a defunct savings and loans company, was on Thursday granted 340 million cedis bail by a circuit tribunal in Accra, to reappear on November 18.

Shardow, charged with defrauding under false pretences, is accused of absconding with hundreds of millions of cedis belonging to unsuspecting depositors. Superintendent Elizabeth Allandu told the tribunal chaired by Mr Mohammed Nabon that, since Shardow was arrested on November 1, about 35 cases have been reported against him.

The least amount involved in these cases is six million cedis. Superintendent Allandu said the accused also defrauded Mr Haruna Rashid Abdulai, his business partner, of 280 million cedis.

She said in 1995, the Bank of Ghana (BOG) ordered the closure of Pyram because it had not registered with BOG. Following demonstrations by Pyram customers against the closure, the government asked the company to operate while it regularised its activities, the prosecutor added.

Unable to pay his depositors, Shardow went into hiding for about five years, Allandu said. She said the police arrested him on November 1 when Mr Abdulai spotted Shardow in Tema and informed the police