A 36 year old driver, Cephas Nkebuari, has appeared before an Accra Circuit, presided over by Afia Owusua Appiah, for allegedly stealing a Toyota Fortuner vehicle, belonging to the Manager of Max Fiber Ghana Limited, and using the same vehicle to steal fuel at one of the Star Oil Filling stations.
The accused who resides at Oyibi near Adentan in Accra has subsequently been charged on four counts of stealing and possession of forged documents. The court is yet to take his plea but was granted bail in the sum of GH¢100,000.00.
Brief Facts
The facts of the case as narrated by the Prosecuting Officer, Chief Inspector Gulliver Tenkorang, were that the complainants in the case were Florence Dotse, a fuel Pump Attendant at Star Oil Filling station and Zhang Yang, Manager of Max Fiber Ghana Limited.
According to him, on November 17, 2022, at about 0400 hours, Cephas drove a white Toyota Fortuner vehicle, 2019 Model, with fake registration No. GS 9698-22 to the said filling station with empty ‘jerry cans’ under the pretext that he was a transporter and needed fuel for his trucks going to Burkina Faso to prevent fuel shortages in transit.
After the fuel attendant filled the twenty jerry cans with diesel, Cephas loaded them into his vehicle and requested the fuel attendant to also fill his vehicle tank with petrol, which all amounted to GH¢8,500.00.
Just after the attendant completed the task, Cephas pretended as if he was parking the vehicle properly, but sped off without paying for the fuel. A report was, therefore, made to Police at Baatsona, where the filling station is located.
The Baatsona police, with assistance of the Police Headquarters Emergency Command Center, were able to track the vehicle all the way to Oyibi, where the accused resides.
Cephas was arrested on Christmas eve, December 24, 2022, and the vehicle he used for the crime, was also retrieved from his house fitted with advanced siren.
A search conducted in his room, uncovered two ‘jerry cans’ filled with petrol and one Non-Citizen Ghana Identity Card bearing Zhang Yang’s name.
Even though Cephas claimed ownership of the vehicle, he could not produce documents covering it save forged papers.
A search conducted at DVLA office also disclosed that the number plate affixed on the vehicle was not genuine, as it was also established that the said number was a registered license plate for a Toyota Yaris.
The investigation team continued their search to the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), where it was revealed that the importer of the vehicle was Toyota Ghana Limited and not Cephas.
Explaining how the vehicle got into the accused’s possession, the prosecutor said somewhere in August 2022, Cephas went to Zhang Yang to seek employment as a driver and was advised to provide a valid driver’s license and an ID card.
On October 24, 2022, Cephas went back to the company with a fake temporary driver’s license and a voter’s ID bearing the name, Charles Mensah, in order to be hired.
With luck on his side, Cephas was employed on the same day and was given the vehicle with registration number GE 6688-20 for a test drive to Cal Bank at Community 25 to transact some business for the company with one Christopher Doe Kuwornu.
When they got the location Christopher stepped out of the vehicle into the bank for the stated assignment, expecting Cephas to wait for him.
This, however, gave an opportunity for Cephas to execute his plan to run away with the vehicle and other properties – a black hand bag containing Non-Citizen Identity Ghana card, a driver’s license and cash of GH¢4,000.00 – belonging to Zhang Yang.
The court was also told that during investigation, Cephas paid GH¢8,500.00 to Star Oil to cover for the cost of the stolen fuel, and the same has been retained as evidence.
