The Director General of Police Operations, Commissioner of Police (COP) Emmanuel Teye-Cudjoe, has ordered a thorough investigation into how a case involving a maize transaction worth millions of Ghana cedis became stalled at his unit.

Information available to The Chronicle indicates that about nine months ago, a Beninese supplier provided 21 articulated truckloads of maize on credit through an Accra-based middleman identified only as Alhaji to a Ghanaian company.

Credible sources close to the transaction said the receiving company had paid the full amount to the middleman for onward transfer to the foreign supplier.

However, the supplier reportedly said he never received the money despite making several demands and being given various excuses by the middleman.

According to the sources, a “Good Samaritan” encountered the frustrated Beninese supplier at the premises of the buying company and confirmed that payment had indeed been made.

The Samaritan subsequently set out to trace the middleman, who had reportedly gone into hiding.

He was allegedly lured with a new business deal and apprehended by the “Good Samaritan” in the vicinity of a mosque while observing prayers.

He was subsequently handed over to a senior officer at the Police Headquarters Operations Unit for further action.

At the unit, the suspect allegedly admitted liability and raised a fraction of the outstanding amount, promising to pay the balance if he was granted bail.

He was subsequently granted police enquiry bail with a surety and was required to refund the outstanding balance within a few days.

However, the suspect has allegedly failed to pay the remaining amount.

Sources privy to the transaction claim that the investigator handling the case, who had earlier threatened to estreat the bond and arrest the surety, is now allegedly frustrating efforts to recover the outstanding money.

A source at the Police Headquarters, who preferred anonymity, told The Chronicle that the incident occurred at a time when the current Director General of Police Operations was not in charge of the unit.

However, when the frustrated Beninese supplier, through his representatives, reported the matter, COP Teye-Cudjoe reportedly acted swiftly by commissioning a probe into how the investigation became stalled after the suspect was granted bail.