The Manager of NEQT Group of Companies Limited, Eric Nana Kwame Asare, is alleged to have defrauded a driver, Nicholas Dugbatey, off GH¢139,390.00, under the pretext of selling him a tipper truck.
Asare departed with the money somewhere in 2021, by means of false representation that if the said amount was paid to him, he could provide Dugbatey a tipper truck on hire purchase.
The Manager’s failure to honour his side of the purported transaction has ended him before an Accra Circuit Court. Asare pleaded not guilty to the charge of defrauding by false pretence, and has been granted bail in the sum GH¢100,000, with two sureties to be justified by the Accra Circuit Court ‘8’, presided over by Adelaide Abui Keddy.
The complainant, Dugbatey, was alleged to have fallen victim to Asare’s grand scheme following a radio advertisement about NEQT Group of Companies Limited, located at Taifa in Accra, that it was offering some vehicles for sale on hire purchase.
The prosecuting officer, Chief Inspector Maxwell Ayim, narrated to the court that the complainant, who was in need of a vehicle at that time, followed the address of the said company to its office at Taifa, in Accra, where he met Asare.
He said Asare introduced himself to the complainant as the Manager of the company, and confirmed that it was the company’s advertisement that was ran on the radio. The prosecutor added: “Accused person, therefore, showed pictures of various types of vehicles at his disposal to the complainant and asked him to make his choice.
“The complainant settled on a China tipper truck after going through the pictures, of which [the] accused person quoted an amount of GH¢380,000.00 to him as the cost of the said truck.”
He narrated that the accused requested that the complainant pay an amount of GH¢76,000.00, being 20% of the cost of the vehicle, to which he agreed to pay in installment basis.
The officer added that the accused instructed the complainant to pay the said amount via his mobile money account numbers 0596314098 and 0244106557, to which he agreed, and started making payments.
By September 2021, he said the complainant had paid about 20% of the cost of the vehicle to the accused, and also provided two people as guarantors, per the requirements of the contract. However, when the complainant demanded the release of the vehicle, the accused refused the account on the grounds that the price of the vehicle had gone up.
The accused, therefore, asked the complainant to pay an additional amount of GH¢40,000.00 before the vehicle would be released to him, if he was still interested to acquire it. Although the complainant obliged and paid the said amount, once again, the accused failed to release the vehicle, and further demanded more money from him.
After making all these commitments with the hope to procure the vehicle, and several appeals to be shown where the vehicle was located, the complainant demanded a refund. At the last court sitting, the complainant further disclosed that the accused demanded and collected documents covering his landed property.
The complainant, therefore, after several failed attempts to receive the vehicle or a refund, reported the matter to the police leading to the arrest of the accused. The accused allegedly admitted in his investigation cautioned statement of having collected an amount of GH¢39,000.00 from the complainant in respect of the said vehicle, but has failed to release it to him.
Meanwhile, police investigations disclosed that the accused had so far collected an amount of GH¢139,390.00 from the complainant in respect of the said tipper truck, but had failed to release it to him as promised.
Further investigations disclosed that the accused had withdrawn the said amount from the mobile money accounts for his personal use. Additionally, investigations also revealed that the complainant, after paying the money to the accused, insisted on several occasions to know the location of the vehicle, but the accused failed to take him there.
During investigations the accused also failed to lead the police to the location of the said vehicle, despite several efforts made by the law enforcement authority.
The prosecutor added that after investigations the accused was charged with the offence and put before court.
