Twelve persons who have been put before an Accra Circuit Court for allegedly conspiring to electronically transfer funds from the accounts of Universal Merchant Bank (UMB) were yesterday taken by surprise when the presiding judge granted them bail in the total sum of GH¢4.8 billion.
The suspects, who are Ghanaians and Nigerians, according to the police, targeted GH¢326.1 million in the accounts of Ghanaian bank.
The accused persons, together with 15 others, who are currently on the run, are said to have between July 22 and 23, 2018 transferred over GH¢1,000,000.00 of the amount into 18 accounts which they opened at the bank.
They were able to withdraw GH¢278,000 out of the total amount, using visa cards and mobile money accounts.
The court, presided over by Harriet Akweley Quaye, last week adjourned the matter to yesterday to determine the quantum of the bail sum in the interest of fair trial.
This was after lawyers for the accused prayed the court to grant them bail pending the trial.
The presiding judge yesterday granted each accused persons bail in the sum of GH¢400 million with sureties.
One of the sureties is to be justified while the foreigners are to deposit their passports or any form of identification with the court’s registry.
The matter was adjourned to August 28, 2018 for hearing to commence.
Cyber Crime Syndicate
The accused persons are believed to be part of a network of cybercrime syndicate comprising Ghanaians and Nigerians.
Their activities were detected by the bank which blocked them and subsequently caused their arrest.
Efforts are being made to apprehend the rest.
This was after the bank detected that all the accounts that the money was credited to were all single-purpose accounts opened purposely to receive the stolen money and UMB quickly flagged all the accounts.
Nine were put before the court last week. The police have also arrested three additional suspects, bringing the total number to 12.
They have all been charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit crime to wit stealing and stealing.
They are James Akwesi Kwarteng, Isaac Kwesi Addokwei, Joseph Kwesi Owusu, Ernest Acheampong and Woemenor Philip.
The rest are Stephen Kofi Tampuri, Michael Nana Yaw, Chief Kingsly Chidebere and Goodluck Otadu.
Not Guilty
They all pleaded not guilty to the charges leveled against them.
At the last sitting, their lawyers prayed the court to grant them bail pending the trial.
Andrew Vortia, who represented four of the accused persons, told the court that his clients would avail themselves for the trial.
He said his clients are innocent and that the real perpetrators are those who are on the run.
The lawyer told the court that his clients have not withdrawn even a penny from the bank and know nothing about the crime.
Other lawyers prayed the court to grant their clients bail, informing the court that their clients are not flight risk.
There was give-and-take between the lawyers and the prosecution, led by ASP Mawunyo Nanegbe, who prayed the court to consider the amount of the money involved when granting them bail.
UMB Statement
The management of Universal Merchant Bank (UMB) last month issued a statement that it had successfully thwarted a cyber attack on its systems by some miscreants who attempted to hack into their infrastructure.
It said the operation, which was done in collaboration with the Ghana Police Service, led to the arrest of members of the syndicate, who are currently in police custody assisting in investigations.
A statement issued by UMB, which is a leading Ghanaian indigenous bank with considerable financial expertise, attributed the success of the operation to the significant infrastructural investments made into the bank’s operational systems.
By Gibril Abdul Razak