The suspects. INSET: Cecilia Dapaah
Job Pomary, one of the suspects in the case in which a total of $1 million and several millions of Ghana Cedis were stolen from the residence of former Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Dapaah and her husband, was yesterday granted a GH¢300,000 bail with two sureties to be justified.
His counsel, Adam Abdul Basit had filed an application before the court urging it to grant the accused person bail pending the trial.
The application was not opposed by Akosua Agyapomaa Agyemang, an Assistant State Attorney, on ground that investigations relating to him had been concluded.
The court, presided over by Her Honour Afia Owusua Appiah, in her ruling, took the charge and accusation levelled against the accused and granted him GH¢300,000 bail with two sureties to be justified.
The sureties are to be persons resident within the court’s jurisdiction, while the accused was further ordered to deposit his passport at the court’s registry as well as report to the case investigator once every two weeks.
Sarah Agyei and Christiana Achab, who were admitted to a GH¢1 million bail each with three sureties each to be justified because they are both lactating mothers, are still in police custody as they have not been able to meet the bail terms.
Investigation
Ms. Agyemang, yesterday told the court that the police were “earnestly concluding investigation in the matter”, and subsequently prayed the court to adjourn the case for two weeks to enable them do so.
The request by the prosecution was not opposed by the defence counsels, and the court adjourned the case to September 5, 2023.
Patience Botwe and Sarah Agyei, the two housemaids, are facing conspiracy to steal and substantive charges of stealing, while Benjamin Sowah, Malik Dauda, Christiana Achab, Job Pomary and Yahaya Sumaila, are facing charges of dishonestly receiving various sums of the stolen money.
The Attorney General (AG) on July 31, 2023, directed the police to conduct further investigations into the case after the docket was forwarded to his Office for advice.
They are to investigate into $800,000 said to belong to Madam Dapaah’s deceased brother and the GH¢300,000 contribution towards her mother’s funeral, the true ownership of the $800,000, and the source(s) from which the established owner of the $800,000 acquired the money.
The police are also to further investigate the ownership and source of the US$200,000 and €300,000 said to have been stolen from the couple’s bedroom.
Again, the AG wants the police to broaden their investigations to include money laundering and other financial crimes to cover the couple in view of the large sums of money they reported to have been stolen from their home given that Madam Dapaah until recently was a high-level public official while her husband has indicated to the police he is an architect.
Discoveries
The police on August 8, 2023, made mind-boggling discoveries of properties purchased by the seven persons dragged before court for stealing millions of Ghana Cedis and other foreign currencies from the home of former Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Dapaah and her husband, Daniel Osei Kufuor.
The discovery includes an 11-unit chamber and hall self-contain house purchased at the cost of GH¢800,000 at Budumburam by Christiana Achab.
Court documents indicate that the accused, who hitherto was living in a wooden structure with her husband in the same locality as Patience Botwe, one of the former minister’s housemaids, received a total of GH¢2.83 million from the loot that forced Madam Dapaah to resign following public outcry.
Christiana Achab, according to court documents, also purchased a three-bedroom house at Aplaku at the sum of GH¢300,000 for Patience Botwe.
She and her husband Job Pomary also purchased a four-bedroom apartment at Kokrobite at the cost of GH¢280,000 for herself, while she also invited another suspect, Yahaya Sumaila from Tamale in the Northern Region to Accra and purchased another three-bedroom apartment at Amrahia at the cost of GH¢850,000 in his name.
Christiana Achab, according to prosecuting documents, also purchased two Honda Acura vehicles at the cost of GH¢300,000 each and registered them in the name of Franklin Sarakpo, who is on the run.
This brings the total number of mansions bought with the stolen money to six, costing a total of GH¢2.23 million and $70,000 respectively.
The price of a three-bedroom mansion built by Sarah Agyei, one of the housemaids, at Budumburam was not specified.
It also brings the total number of vehicles identified to four, costing a total of GH¢1.58 million, while two properties which were rented in Tamale cost a total of GH¢225,000.
By Gibril Abdul Razak