GN Bank manager ‘steals’ GH¢2m

Samuel Kwasi Kyei Darkwah, the Akwatia branch manager of GN Bank Ghana Limited, has appeared before an Accra circuit court for allegedly stealing over GH¢2 million belonging to the bank.

The accused is in the dock alongside one Selassie Awudi Solomon, a real estate developer.

The two, according to the prosecutor, ASP Stephen K. Adjei, conspired with one Kenneth Obina, a Nigerian businessman who is currently at large, to steal GH¢2,095,610.96.

In a court presided over by Aboagye Tandoh, the two, who were represented by their respective lawyers, denied the offence.

The court however, admitted the accused persons to bail in the sum of GH¢1 million with three sureties each to be justified.

The surety must be a public servant earning not less than GH¢1,000 a month.

Granting the bail, Mr. Tandoh stated that the court has to critically examine the facts and the charges against the accused persons.

He stated that the amount involved is also colossal and cannot be glossed over if the court was minded to grant the bail.

He said if the court was minded to grant the bail on the other hand, the condition must be in such a way that it would not frustrate the availability of the accused persons in the trial.

The facts of the case are that the complainant is the Manager of GN Bank in the Eastern Region whilst Samuel is the Branch Manager of the bank at Akwatia and Solomon a real estate developer.

In November, 2016, Solomon, in a Facebook chat with the branch manager, introduced himself as a lady, chief auditor and Head of International Remittance of AL Rayan Bank plc in the United Kingdom.

In the course of the chat, Solomon was said to have proposed to the complainant that her customer, one Harrison Forster, was shot dead whilst in Tripoli, Libya, and left behind a fortune of $14.5 million in his account without a next-of-kin.

Solomon and Obina convinced Samuel that they would give him the account details and also assist him with a solicitor to facilitate the acquisition of the estate of the late Harrison Forster as his next-of-kin.

The two succeeded in convincing Samuel, who agreed to part with GH¢2,095,610.96 under the pretext of using the money to process necessary documentation at the British Royal Court of Justice, which Solomon and Obina claimed would be used to collect the $14.5 million.

The court further heard that Samuel then took the said amount from the GN Bank and transferred it to various accounts provided by Solomon, including Ecobank, Kwabenya Branch in Accra.

On 21st April, this year, Solomon received GH¢200,000 into his account but managed to clear GH¢120,000 the following day.

Solomon was arrested when he attempted to clear the remaining money but Obina managed to escape.

In his statement to the police, Samuel stated that he sent money into the accounts provided by the accused persons. However, the monies transferred were taken from the GN Bank Akwatia without any authorization

Solomon also told the police that the moneys he received were payments for land he allegedly sold to a person whose identity he had not been able to establish.

Police investigation has established that there are other accomplices known to the accused who also received some of the money into their accounts.