Alhaji Ahmed Bandoh
Alhaji Ahmed Bandoh, a football enthusiast has denied his involvement in the fake currency syndicate busted at the Kotoka International Airport over the weekend.
A special operation by operatives of the National Security led to the arrest of a 13-member gang involved in the printing and distribution of fake currencies to victims, mostly foreigners.
The gang, led by one Yassei Alia, a 45-year-old Syrian resident at East Legon, Accra, and owner of Hardford Auto Service in Accra, together with Danjuma Zakaria, alias Alhaji Mohammed, 49, a resident at Tema West, were in a warehouse within the premises of NacCharter Cargo & Freight Company, near KLM offices within the Kotoka International Airport, when they were rounded up on Monday, April 27, at around 17:30GMT.
Their arrests led to the retrieval of freshly printed $10,000 bundles of fake $100 notes concealed in two large metal trunks and a suitcase, from the warehouse.
In the process, the National Security operatives said one Bandoh, Alhaji-Ahmed, alias Alhaji Bahmed, owner of Bahmed Travel and Tours, who claims to be a Presidential Staffer at the Castle, and a client of Yassie, drove to the National Security headquarters, and verbally assaulted the leader of the operation for their actions.
However, addressing the media in Accra yesterday, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Bahmed Travel and Tours said the allegations which were contained in a statement issued on Monday by the National Security Secretariat are without basis, libellous and he has directed his lawyers to sue the National Security for defamation.
He told the media, “I am not a criminal and I have built my reputation for many years and I will not allow anyone to destroy it.
“I refute the allegations levelled against me for having any involvement with the recent fake currency saga.”
He added, “I have also not verbally assaulted anyone, let alone the leader of the National Security Operations as claimed. If they think I have verbally assaulted anybody at the National Security, they should provide evidence from the CCTV cameras at their premises.”
He stated that he only accompanied the lawyer of one Alhaji Mohammed to the National Security Headquarters after the latter had been invited.
He said they were both prevented from seeing the officer in charge of the operations, who “I later got to know is Colonel Agyemang.”
Bahmeds insisted he did not display any aggression, saying “I dissociate myself from the fake currency saga and I am categorically stating that I have no knowledge of the alleged claims.”
From The Sports Desk