A woman accused of absconding with GHC156,445 in customers’ “susu” savings has been granted bail by an Accra Circuit Court after pleading not guilty to multiple fraud-related charges.
The accused, Martha Nana Esi Afful, is facing 35 counts of fraudulent breach of trust for allegedly collecting savings from 35 individuals and failing to repay them.
Presiding over the case on Wednesday, Mr Joseph Y. Kuunsong admitted Martha to bail in the sum of GHC200,000 with two sureties. The court directed that one of the sureties must be a public servant earning at least GHC5,000 per month. The case has been adjourned to August 12, 2026.
According to the prosecution, the complainants are traders and residents of La in Accra, while the accused, who lived at Burma Camp, operated a business under the name “ZOE” as a self-classd susu collector.
The prosecution alleged that Martha convinced the complainants that she operated a daily susu scheme in which contributions would be invested for periods ranging from one to three years, with interest paid upon maturity.
The complainants reportedly began contributing to the scheme in 2023 under a three-year investment arrangement.
However, when they attempted to withdraw their savings and accrued interest in December 2025, Martha allegedly went into hiding, responding only to calls from a few of the contributors.
The court heard that the accused continued to receive payments from some customers through an MTN Mobile Money account she had provided, despite becoming unreachable.
Prosecutors said repeated attempts by the complainants to recover their combined savings of GHC156,445 proved unsuccessful, prompting them to report the matter to the police on June 14, 2026.
Martha was subsequently arrested at a washing bay in Tse Addo.
During police interrogation, the prosecution said the accused admitted in her caution statement that she had relocated to Swedru in the Central Region following the death of her husband, making it difficult for the complainants to contact her after December 2025.
She further claimed that she had invested the funds in a refuse collection business and requested additional time to refund the money.
Police investigations into the matter are ongoing.
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