Three of the accused
Five persons have been dragged before a High Court in Accra for allegedly attempting to smuggle 100 kilograms of gold estimated at GH¢100 million.
Abdul Razak Seidu, Bernard Nkrumah and Ibrahim Aremeyaw were initially hauled before the court last month, where they pleaded not guilty to the charges levelled against them.
Abdul Karim and Sadique Abubakari, who were initially on the run, subsequently appeared before the court yesterday and also pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Their lawyer, Paul Bariga, pleaded with the court to grant them bail, assuring it that the accused will make themselves available for the trial.
Together, they are facing a total of seven charges, including conspiracy to commit crime, attempt to smuggle gold, transportation of gold without authorisation, buying gold without licence issued by the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) and failure to comply with GoldBod Tier 2 Licence.
The court, presided over by Justice Ruby Aryeetey, has granted each of the accused persons a bail of GH¢50 million with two sureties, one of whom must be justified.
They have been ordered to report to the police every other day until the conclusion of investigations.
One other suspect ̶ Muhammed Afsah Puthalan, an Indian national, is still on the run as the police mount a manhunt for his arrest.
The prosecution’s fact indicates that on August 26, 2025, the GoldBod Taskforce gathered intelligence that a syndicate was transporting gold from Tarkwa to Accra for onward smuggling out of Ghana.
Acting on the information, the Taskforce mounted surveillance on the Tarkwa-Accra route, which led to the interception of a Toyota Hiace commercial vehicle on August 27, 2025, at Winneba Junction.
Abdul Razak Seidu, who was on board the Toyota Hiace vehicle, was arrested and a backpack he was carrying contained three wrapped yellowish substances, which later was tested and confirmed at the GoldBod Assay Laboratory to be gold with a net weight of 8.2 kilograms, valued at approximately GH¢10.2 million.
Investigation so far further disclosed that on several occasions, Seidu transported gold from Tarkwa to Accra under the instructions of Abdul Karim, who provided him with contacts via WhatsApp from Puthalan.
The brief fact indicated that Seidu, in his investigation cautioned statement dated on August 28, indicated that he received gold either directly from Bernard Nkrumah or from his driver, Joseph Acquah alias Kobi, for delivery in Accra.
It said Seidu further admitted that he was transporting the gold from Tarkwa to Accra for delivery to his cousin, Abdul Karim on the instructions of Puthalan.
“He further indicated that he had made several similar trips in the last ten days preceding his arrest, and he was paid a fee of GH¢500 for each trip,” the facts noted.
The fact further indicated that Nkrumah, under interrogation, corroborated Seidu’s statements, that he supplied gold of varied quantities to Ramfoh Gold Limited, a company not holding any gold trading licence from the GoldBod, through Pathalan and Karim, using couriers like Seidu.
“He further indicated that between July and August 2025, he purchased and supplied approximately 100 kilograms of gold valued at about GH¢100 million to A1 (Ramfoh Ltd.) through A2 and A3 (Pathalan and Karim), using A4 (Seidu) and other couriers. He further confirmed receiving large sums of money, ranging from GH¢10 million to GH¢30 million on different occasions, through mobile money transfers from A1 and A2,” the fact added.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak