Cocoa purchasing official in court over GHC 32,590.23

Asamankese, Jan. 22, GNA - Daniel Mensah, 48, an official of a cocoa purchasing company, was on Friday, arraigned before the Asamankese Circuit Court, charged with stealing GH¢32,590.23, belonging to his employer.

The amount represented the cost of 159 bags of cocoa and operational expenses made by the company.

Mensah pleaded guilty with explanation and was granted GH¢30,000 bail with two sureties to re-appear on February 14.

Police Detective Chief Inspector Xystus Okorey, prosecuting, told the court, presided over by Mr D. E. K. Daketsey, that on November 05 last year, the complainant, a sector co-ordinator of the CDH Commodities Limited, a cocoa purchasing company, based at Nankese, gave GH¢72,2000 to the accused, a district purchasing officer, to purchase 361 bags of dried cocoa beans.

He said on December 14, Mensah informed the complainant that he had purchased 326 bags.

The next day the complainant sent a truck to convey 200 bags to the company's depot at Tema, leaving the rest to be collected later.

The prosecutor said later when the truck sent to the depot to collect the remaining bags they realized that there were only two bags of cocoa at the depot and Mensah could not give reasonable explanation about the whereabouts of the supposed 124 bags remaining.

A report was made to the police and in a caution statement Mensah claimed that he had given the money to other purchasing clerks to purchase the cocoa but had failed to deliver on their promises.

In his explanation, the accused said he was an asthmatic patient and that he had an attack of the ailment so he could not go round to collect the cocoa, hence the shortfall.

The judge asked if the police investigation showed that the accused gave out monies to purchasing clerks to buy cocoa.

Mr Daketsey said if there was no such investigation, he did not understand why the accused pleaded guilty and entered a plea of not guilty for him and said there would be a full trial of the case later.