Cameroonian jailed for stealing diplomatic passports

Accra, July 18, GNA - A 21 year-old Cameroonian, who broke into the offices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and made away with 52 diplomatic passports and 650,000 cedis was on Friday sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment with hard labour by a Circuit Court in Accra. Elanga Zetho Vinny pleaded guilty to five counts of unlawful entry and two counts of stealing and was convicted on his own plea. The trial judge Mr Emmanuel Ankamah ordered that the retrieved diplomatic passports should be given back to the Ministry. Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Eric Amoako said the theft at the Ministry was referred to the security personnel for investigations. The Prosecution said during the second week of July this year, a report from the Police and Interpol in Benin said the accused had been found selling some passports.

A team comprising officials from Ministry of Foreign Affairs, BNI and the Police went to Benin to arrest the accused and brought him to Accra. ASP Amoako said during interrogation, Vinny claimed that he arrived in Togo by air from Cameroon on March 29, this year, with CFA 300,000 on him and lodged at a nightclub, but his money was stolen from him. He, therefore, sold his belongings and came to Ghana. The Prosecution said Police investigations, however, revealed that the accused travelled to Accra on June 25, this year, at about 1100 hours and went to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. At the Ministry, Vinny followed some visitors and got to the fifth floor.

Police investigations further revealed that Vinny later descended to find some food to eat. At about 1700 hours he entered the Ministry again and told the security men that he was in the company of a visitor but decided go out and find some food to eat. The security men allowed him into the Ministry. At about 2200 hours he went to the fifth floor after most of the workers had left. Vinny reached the sixth floor with the aid of a table and flower vase and stole the passports and the monies and sneaked out of the premises.

Investigation further revealed that he went to Lome, Togo to dispose of the passports but he did not get people to purchase them. Vinny, therefore, went to Benin and sold one of the passports to a Ghanaian. The Ghanaian later told him that he had a brother in Europe, who wanted more of the passports to purchase. Vinny returned to Lome and collected 20 of the passports from a friend to be sold to the Ghanaian, who lured him to a public toilet and Vinny was apprehended. Police investigations revealed that he sold each of the passports for CFA 40,000. The Prosecution said during investigation Vinny confessed that he operated alone and that he undertook similar operation at the Ministry of Education and Finance and the then Post and Telecommunication in 1999 but he was not arrested.