The Accra Circuit Court, presided over Mrs. Susan Eduful, has remanded the Kas Estate Site Supervisor, Wahab Tetteh, into lawful custody till the end of the trial.
Wahab is being tried for allegedly defrauding Pastor Samson Andoh off GH¢32,000.00 by means of false pretences.
He pleaded not guilty to the charge when he appeared before the court on Monday, this week, after which his application for bail was denied.
The court was told by the police prosecuting officer, Chief Inspector Princess Tetteh Boafo, that on August 19, 2021, the complainant expressed interest in acquiring two plots of land and was introduced to Wahab (accused) by Collins Kwasi Asante and Kofi Mensah.
She said the accused also assured the complainant that he could get him the plots of land at Danchira in the Ga South Municipality in Accra at the cost of GH¢50,000.00.
The accused subsequently took the complainant, together with the two others serving as witnesses in the case, to the site and showed them the land.
The complainant became interested and made a part payment of GH¢32,000.00 whilst waiting to get the documents covering the land before he would pay the balance of GH¢18,000.00.
The accused again demanded and collected GH¢6,000.00 in order to process the land documents for the complainant, and eventually handed over a purported photocopy of the land document to the complainant.
Upon that the complainant proceeded to commence work on the land, but was confronted by someone who also claimed ownership.
The accused was duly informed and he admitted that the land in question did not belong to him, but rather one Madam Hannah, on whose behalf he sold the land.
The accused further stated that because the complainant delayed in paying the balance of GH¢18,000.00, Madam Hannah had re-sold the land to a different person.
The matter was reported to the police and the accused was arrested, and in his statement admitted receiving an amount of GH¢20,000.00 from Madam Hannah.
Investigations established that the accused, upon receipt of the GH¢32,000.00, gave only GH¢20,000.00 to Madam Hannah and spent GH¢12,000.00.
Madam Hannah, after re-selling the land, refunded the GH¢20,000.00 she received to the accused who claimed to have used it to purchase different land at Obom in the same Ga South Municipality for the complainant, but could not produce any evidence of the purchase.
In the course of investigations, an amount of GH¢3,000.00 was retrieved from the accused on April 3, 2023, which was retained for evidential purposes. The accused was subsequently charged with the offence after investigations and put before the court.
