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General News of Tuesday, 22 January 2013

Source: The Chronicle Newspaper

Agya Koo hires 4 lawyers to battle fraud case; goes to court today

The popular Ghanaian actor and comedian, Kofi Adu, popularly known as ‘Agya Koo”, who has been accused of indulging in visa fraud, yesterday appeared in an Accra circuit court with four lawyers , after being arrested on Friday and kept in police custody for three days.

Captain Nkrabea Effah Dartey (lead Counsel), Nelson Coffie, Mark Diamond Nyameko and Augustine Asafo Adjei, identified themselves as counsel for the defendant, when the popular actor was bundled to the court yesterday.

Kofi Adu is alleged to have defrauded about 13 people of a total amount of $24,050 under the pretext o securing United States of America visas for them.

The accused person, due to his position in the Ghanaian entertainment circles, was given special preferential treatment when he appeared in the court yard.

The policemen, who were supposed to put the celebrity in the cell room, together with other suspected criminals, rather hosted him in the police dressing room, awaiting the court to call his case.

Agya Koo, considering the state of embarrassment and tension, at a point in time, ordered some of his friends to seize the cameras of some media houses who were trying to take shots of him.

In the court room, the prosecutor in the case, DSP Mary Agbozo, requested that the judge remand the accused person into custody as the docket was not fully prepared and ready to be presented before the court.

According to her, Agya Koo was forced to present himself to the police after the police issued a bench warrant, and the news published on the front pages of the various dailies.

DSP Agbozo, therefore, pleaded with the court to remand the accused for another day.

The head of his legal team, Captain Nkrabea Effah Dartey, however, in his application for bail, emphasized that the prosecution had taken too much time to prepare its docket, as the accused person had been arrested and been in custody since Friday.

According to him, the accused person had nowhere to hide when admitted to bail, since he is a public figure.

The court presided over by Mr Ebenezer Osei Darko, therefore, admitted the accused person to bail in the sum of Ghc20, 000 with two sureties. He is expected to re-appear before the court today.