Four individuals charged with extorting GH¢470,000 from the Executive Director of Ghana International Mall, under the pretence of using the money to ‘settle’ officials at the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) to drop their case against some Chinese suspects.
The four – Kofi Kwain, Bright Senyo Dey, Collins Amoah and Alhaji Abdul Isaka Razak – have been granted bail by the Accra Circuit Court, following their not guilty pleas to conspiracy, extortion and stealing charge.
Judge Afua Owusuaa Appiah, presiding, set the bail at GH¢400,000 for each accused person, requiring two sureties residing within the jurisdiction.
The case involves allegations that on August 31, 2023 Kwain, Dey and Amoah extorted GH¢470,000 from Meng, the Executive Director of Ghana International Mall, promising to use the money to influence officials at the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) to drop their case against the Mall’s employees.
Additionally, Dey and Razak are charged with breaking into the Ghana International Mall on September 1, 2023 and stealing items valued at GH¢378,040.42.
According to the prosecution, led by DSP Evans Kesse, the complainants are Zhang Liang, a Chinese national and contractor and Gabby Appiah, a health assistant.
The accused, with the assistance of a mix of police and military personnel, reportedly arrested Zheng Heng Ling, 53, and five other Chinese nationals at the Mall, on charges of money laundering.
The others are Liu Qui, 33, Tent Shulliah, 57, Hia Bin, 34, Xian Song, 29, and Xie Guang Yong, 47.
After the arrest, the suspects were detained at the Dansoman Police Station, before being transferred to National Security.
At the time, Mr. Meng was in China, but received the information from Mr. Tod, a Chinese interpreter.
While the suspects were in custody, the accused through threat took the said money from the Mall’s Executive Director, through Mr. Tod.
The money was received by Kwain, with the hope of using it to settle EOCO officials who ordered the arrest to discontinue the case.
Various monies, which sum total is yet to be established, were demanded and collected by Kwain, Dey, and Amoah using the same modus operandi.
Again, while the suspects were still in the custody of National Security, Dey allegedly engaged Razak and others to lock up the Mall to prevent the complainants and their lawful agents from accessing it.
Dey and Razak reportedly took advantage of the situation to break into Mall and made away with valuable items, including Bosch Battery, Lithium Electric hammer, Lithium angle grinner, Lithium battery pistol drill, one black 1000 litre Polytank water pump, copper nose 100kg, 276 meters of cables and other valuable items from the yard at cost H¢378,040.
Following the suspects release, the complainants discovered the theft through CCTV footage and identified the accused as the perpetrators.
Meanwhile, investigations revealed that none of the accused had affiliations with EOCO or the National Security, leading to their arrest.
The case began on December 21, 2022 with Kwain attending while the others were absent. The court set several adjourned dates, with the latest being October 24, 2024, for further proceedings.
