The Accra Circuit Court ‘9’, presided over by Samuel Bright Acquah, has placed a GH¢2 million bail bond on the head of an estate developer, William Odamptey, 55.
The court, as part of the bail conditions, ordered that the sureties should be three Ghanaian citizens who have fixed places of abode, as well as permanent places of doing business within the jurisdiction of the court.
The accused was granted bail last Friday, after his not guilty plea was taken on the count of fraudulent transaction in land.
The brief facts
According to the police prosecutor, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Maxwell Oppong, the complainant is Prashant Suresh Rajwani, who is employed and lives at Osu, whilst the accused is an Estates Agent and resides at Mamprobi.
He said in 2021, a property owner by name Joana Hammond alias Nee Cobbina entrusted her landed property to the accused to sell.
The prosecutor added that the accused person sold the said property to Amaadi Consultant Limited, and all necessary documents were issued to the company on March 11, 2021.
He stated that on May 25, 2022, the accused again sold the same property to the complainant at the cost US$300,000.00.
Per the arrangements of the accused with the complainant, documents covering the land would be given out after he made full payment. Upon which the accused collected part payment of the total amount.
Nevertheless, he asserted that after the complainant paid the other half of the cost of the property, he demanded the documents covering the land, but the accused refused to give it him.
“After several demands for the documents, the accused told the complainant that he has terminated the sale of the land and property,” he narrated.
According to him, the complainant, therefore, instituted civil action against Mrs. Joana Hammond alias Nee Cobbina, in order to compel the accused to refund his money.
He said while the case was still pending before the court, the complainant discovered on May 20 this year that another person had gone into the land and demolished the property on it.
The prosecutor told the court that it was on this basis that the complainant reported the case to the police for investigation, adding, “during investigation it was detected that the said Mrs. Joana Hammond alias Nee Cobbina was not aware that the accused person sold the land to the complainant.
“The accused did not also hand over the US$150,000.00 the complainant paid to the owner of the property.”
The accused admitted the offence in his investigation cautioned statement to the police, and was arraigned before the court.
Mr. Acquah, after hearing the facts of the case and granted the accused bail, adjourned the case to December 12, 2022.
