Mechanical Engineer charged with stealing, fraud

Kwame Amanya, a mechanical engineer, has been accused of fraud and stealing a Valtra tractor valued GH¢80,000.00.

He was arraigned together with Joe Clark Arthur, a fabricator, who is facing the change of dishonestly receiving.

They have both pleaded not guilty to the charges and were admitted to bail in various sums of money.

Amanya, first accused (A1), was given bail in the sum of GH¢100,000.00 with two sureties to be justified by landed property, while Arthur (A2) was given GH¢20,000.00 with one surety who is a family member.

The court, presided over by His Honour Samuel Bright Acquah, has adjourned the next hearing to May 3, 2023.

Addressing the court, Chief inspector Daniel Danku said during the year 2019, the complainant in the case entrusted his Valtra tractor with registration number GR7118-18 to the accused on rental basis.

However, after a period of about six months A1 and the tractor could not be located.

He said the complainant later got information that the tractor had been spotted at Maame Krobo near Afram Plains in the Eastern Region.

Therefore, a report was made to the Cantonments police and investigations led to the arrest of A2 who was in possession of the said tractor.

He informed the police that he bought the tractor from A1, and this led to the arrest of the latter.

During investigations Amanya also stated that he sold the tractor to A2 upon the authorisation of the complainant, but could not produce his proof of transaction or any money paid to the complainant after the sale.

During investigations, a witness in the case also showed up at the police station and stated that the tractor in question had been sold to him by Arthur, but when he requested for the documents covering the vehicle, he was assured that the documents would be retrieved from the complainant in Accra for him, but A2 failed to do so.

The witness added that until he heard that the tractor in question was involved in a case under investigation at the Cantonments police station he did not know the real owner.

The prosecutor said the tractor had since been impounded by the police and kept at the Maame Krobo District Police Headquarters.

After thorough investigations, the 1st and 2nd accused persons were charged with the offences and put before court.