Couple before tribunal for theft

Mercy Debrah, a sales attendant and her husband Francis Narko on Tuesday appeared before a Circuit Tribunal in Accra charged with stealing and dishonestly receiving.

Mercy was charged with stealing while her husband was charged with dishonestly receiving.

Police said Mercy stole items worth 35 million cedis and gave them to her husband for sale.

Mercy and Narko pleaded not guilty. Narko was granted a 20-million cedi bail with one surety to be justified while Mercy was remanded in prison custody.

They are scheduled to re-appear on May 18.

Police Inspector Joseph Kwame Anneh told the tribunal chaired by Mrs Elizabeth Anderson Yebuah that the complainant, Selina Mampong, trader, who lives at Sakaman, owns a shop at Okaishie.

Inspector Anneh said in December last year, Ms Mampong during stocktaking with the attendants discovered the loss of items worth 35 million cedis.

On January 22, when Ms Mampong went to the shop, she met a porter with five cartons of Ideal Milk, which she was bringing to the shop.

When she queried the porter, she told her that Mercy had asked her to send them to an unknown man who she did not meet. She therefore returned them to the shop.

The prosecutor said the porter further informed Ms Mampong that Mercy had on several occasions asked her to convey various items to the man.

Mercy broke down and confessed having stolen milk and other items from the shop.

He said investigations revealed that the couple has a shop at Achimota, which it had been stocking with goods stolen from Ms Mampong's shop.

Mercy normally collected the goods and hid them at the workshop of Michael Kwame, a bag repairer, from where she transported them to their shop at Achimota.

The prosecutor said Mercy led the police to their shop where some of the stolen items were displayed and 2.7 million cedis was retrieved.

He said Narko confessed that most of the items were brought from Ms Mampong's shop.