Nicholas Sarpong has been dragged before the Circuit Court at Dansoman for allegedly stealing Hyundai i10 taxi, valued at GH¢30,000.
Nicholas Sarpong pleaded not guilty before Her Honour Halimah El-Alawa Abdul-Baasit, the presiding judge.
The court granted the accused bail in the sum of GH¢40,000 with two sureties, both of which are to be justified.
In addition, the accused was ordered to deposit his Ghana Card at the court registry and report to the police every two weeks until further notice.
According to the prosecution, led by Chief Inspector Emelia Mensah, the complainant, Salifu Alandu, an aluminum fabricator, based at Fadama, a suburb of Accra, gave his Hyundai i10 taxi (registration number GS 5253-22) to the accused in September 2023 for commercial use, under a weekly sales agreement of GH¢500.
On February 18, 2024 Nicholas Sarpong reportedly informed the complainant’s wife that the vehicle had been stolen, while he was at the Weija-Gbawe Municipal Hospital.
He claimed a passenger hired him to the hospital on February 16, 2024 and asked him to wait under a mango tree, and allegedly made off with the taxi while he was unconscious.
Following police investigations, Nicholas Sarpong was arrested and charged with stealing the vehicle. He insists the theft was not his doing and maintains he was a victim of deception.
The prosecution has been directed to file all disclosures and witness statements ahead of the Case Management Conference (CMC).
The case has been adjourned
In a related development, the court has struck out a theft case involving a Toyota Corolla LE vehicle valued at GHC 70,000.00 due to lack of prosecution.
The accused, Bright Asomaning, a 43-year-old mechanic and resident of Awoshie, was charged with stealing contrary to Section 124 (1) of the Criminal Offences Act 29/60. The charge arose from allegations that he dishonestly appropriated the vehicle, registered GR 6922-14, belonging to one Kate Adio, a trader and resident of Sowutuom.
According to court documents, the incident dates back to February 2025 when the complainant sent Asomaning to retrieve her vehicle from Oda to Accra for repairs. After successfully transporting the car, the complainant expressed interest in selling it and asked Bright Asomaning to find a potential buyer. However, the accused allegedly sold the vehicle without her consent and went into hiding.
Efforts by Kate Adio to retrieve her vehicle proved futile, as repeated calls to the accused yielded no results. The matter was eventually reported to the police on April 16, 2025.
Based on intelligence, the accused was arrested at Sowutuom. During police investigations, Bright Asomaning admitted in his caution statement that financial difficulties had driven him to sell the vehicle.
Despite the arrest and subsequent investigation, the case was struck out by the court due to the prosecution’s failure to proceed with the matter in a timely manner.
The accused has been discharged
