An Accra circuit court has set August 8, 2016 to deliver judgement in the case in which two persons are standing trial for attacking and robbing Bext Nascent Forex Bureau at Mpamprom in Accra.
The decision by the court follows the denial of the charges by Yakubu Alhassan, a welder and the first accused person in the case, compelling the court to have a full trial.
The court, presided over by Aboagye Tandoh, last month handed a 21-year jail term with hard labour to the second accused – Haruna Abdulai aka Borbor – unemployed, after he had changed his plea.
The duo, including two others currently on the run, are said to have at about 2:30 pm on March 23, this year, robbed the Forex Bureau, managed by Bismark Boateng, an amount of GH¢150,000.
At the hearing of the case yesterday, Yakubu insisted on his innocence over the conspiracy to rob and robbery charges when he opened his defence.
In his defence, the accused among other things, vehemently denied his involvement in the robbery.
Under cross-examination by the prosecutor, Chief Superintendent Duuti Tuaruka, Yakubu, who was represented by his lawyer, Joseph Kaponde, said he did not lead Borbor and two others currently on the run to the Forex Bureau for the robbery.
He said he did not also play any part in taking the money from the staff of the Forex Bureau at the counter.
According to Yakubu, he did not jump into the yard of Metro Mass Transit Limited where he was reportedly arrested.
C/Supt. Tuaruka said on the said date the accused persons and the others on the run went to the Bureau under the pretext of doing business.
He said in the process, the accused persons pulled a locally made pistol on Boateng and two other workers at the Bureau, took them hostage and made away with monies in both local and foreign currencies totaling GH¢150,000.
C/Supt. Tuaruka noted that after the robbery, a staff at the Bureau raised an alarm and with the assistance of a police patrol team and the people in the vicinity, the accused persons were arrested while the two others escaped.
He said when Yakubu and Haruna were being chased by the mob, they fired indiscriminately and in the process 14 persons sustained gunshot wounds and were rushed to the police hospital.
He stated that GH¢58,000 and a locally-manufactured pistol were retrieved from Haruna and Yakubu.
By Jeffrey De-Graft JohnsonÂ
jeffdegraft44@yahoo.com