Persons believed to have engaged in black market forex activities have, since last Friday, continued to be arraigned before the district and circuit courts in the capital, Accra.
So far, The Chronicle has been able to follow about five of these cases at the Circuit Court and would keep the public informed about the others in due course
On Monday, November 14, the police, on behalf of the Attorney-General (A-G), put before court alleged black market dealers from the Kwame Nkrumah Circle, Tudu and the Airport.
Those from the Nkrumah Circle were Shaibu Muntawakilu, Hachim Alzouma, and Valantine Okoligwe; monies found on them included one GH¢1.50).
The accused persons were charged and pleaded not guilty to engaging in the business of dealing in foreign exchange without a licence before the Accra Circuit Court ‘9’, presided over by Samuel Bright.
The court, with exception of Valentine, who was pregnant, remanded the accused persons into police custody on the grounds that they were foreigners and did not have fixed places of abode.
The expectant mother was slapped with bail in the sum of GH¢20,000 with one surety, who is a Ghanaian citizen and also has a business within the jurisdiction of the court.
The case was adjourned to November 21.
Facts of the case
According to the prosecuting officer, Isaac Anquandah, on November 10, 2022, the police, in conjunction with officials of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), embarked on an intelligence-led operation to clamp down on the illegal activities of forex traders in the country.
The team went to the Kwame Nkrumah Circle and arrested the accused persons, who were in the act of transacting the business of exchanging currencies, meanwhile, they had not been authorised by law.
As part of the operation, a search conducted on the accused persons revealed thousands of Ghana cedis and other foreign currencies as follows: Bashiru Ibrahim, GH¢10,084.00, Shaibu Muntawakilu, GH¢210.70, Hachim Alzouma, GH¢911,000, and Valantine Okoligwe, GH¢1.50.
Factors underlying the operation were that the activities of the accused persons over the period were impacting adversely on the forex exchange market in the county. The court was informed that investigation was ongoing to apprehend their accomplices.
Airport area
The Circuit Court One, presided over by Susana Eduful, granted Muslim Halid Issah Osumanu, Abdul Mumuni, Fataw Khadirix, Malik Sulley, Yussif Issaka and Ibrahim Abubakari bail based on a prayer by their defence counsel – that the accused persons were citizens of Ghana and had fixed places of abode.
Secondly, the accused persons had been in police custody for more than 48 hours.
Mrs. Eduful granted the accused persons bail in the sum of GH¢50,000 with three sureties each and the guarantors must be direct family members of the accused persons. Also the accused persons were to deposit their National Identification Cards or Ghana Card with the Court Registry till the final determination of the trial.
“Sureties should be direct family members. Counsel has indicated that all accused persons are Ghanaians, so they should deposit their Ghana Card [with the Court Registrar] till [the] final determination of the case,” she ordered.
This was after the accused persons had pleaded not guilty to engaging in the business of dealing in foreign currency exchanges without licences last Monday.
The trial was adjourned to December 14.
Circuit Court 8
In the Circuit Court 8 the brief facts as presented by the police prosecutor, Inspector Isaac Babaye, were that on November 10, 2022, the police, in conjunction with officers of the Bank of Ghana, embarked on an intelligence-led operation to clamp down on the illegal activities of forex traders in Accra.
The team went to the Airport roundabout and Airport Police Station bus stop and arrested the accused person who were in the act of transacting the business of exchanging foreign currencies without a license.
He said a search conducted on the accused persons revealed thousands of Ghana cedis and other foreign currencies on them.
However, others succeeded in passing monies on them to their accomplices who fled, but the team managed to retrieve monies from Issah Asumanu, GH¢79,460.00, US$64839.00, €690.00, US$120.00, £320.00, Swiss Franc 20, CFA45,500.00); Abdul Mumuni, GH¢137.00), Malik Sule, GH¢6,365.00, Yussif Issakah, GH¢2,953.00, and Abrahim Abubakari, GH¢613.00.
The prosecutor told the court that the activities of the accused persons over the period were impacting adversely on the forex exchange market in the country, and that they were searching to apprehend the accomplices of the accused persons who fled the area.
The Circuit Court 8, presided over by Adelaide Abui Keddy, granted the accused bail in the sum of GH¢100,000 with one surety each to be justified by landed property.
The court further ordered the accused persons – Mohammed Ali, Barkisu Yakubu, Shaibu Suleman Issah, Baryi Ali, Bashiru Saadu, Saadu Hamidu, Mamudu Shamsudeen and Karim Yahaya – to report twice every week to the police and adjourned the case to December 12.
The brief facts
According to the police prosecution officer, Inspector Isaac Babaye, on November 10, the police in a joint effort with officials of the Bank of Ghana, embarked a swoop on persons alleged to be engaging in illegal the activities of the forex trade business in Accra.
The team went to Tudu within the Accra Business District and arrested the accused persons who were in the act of transacting the business of exchanging foreign currencies.
Investigations later disclosed that the accused persons were engaged in foreign currency exchange business without licenses.
A search conducted on the accused persons revealed thousands of Ghana cedis and other foreign currencies on some of them, although others succeeded in passing on their monies to their accomplices who fled the scene.
The police team retrieved from Mohammed Ali, GH¢2,300.00 and US$87, Barikisu Yakubu, GH¢10,010 and 6,002 Naira, Shaibu Suleman Issah, GH¢3,850.00 and CFA65,000.00, Baryi Ali, GH¢848.00, CFA 80,000 and $US70, Bashiru Saadu, GH¢52.00 and 25 Naira, Saadu Hamidu, GH¢361.00 and Karim Yahaya, GH¢42.00.
The activities of the accused persons, over the period, he said, have had an adverse impact on the forex exchange market in the country.
The prosecutor assured the court that investigations were underway to arrest the accomplices of the accused persons.
