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The accused persons (from left): Stephen Bediako, Kweku Nuworkpeh and Abass Fuseini.
The accused persons (from left): Stephen Bediako, Kweku Nuworkpeh and Abass Fuseini.

Forex bureau robbers on trial

The trial of a gang of three who allegedly attacked two persons at a forex bureau at Nungua in Accra with a pump action gun and other weapons began at the Accra Circuit Court yesterday.

Stephen Bediako, alias Skyro; Kweku Nuworkpeh and Abass Fuseini are alleged to have robbed their victims of GH¢40,000; 67,000 CFA and 20,000 Naira.

The trio pleaded not guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit robbery and six separate charges for robbery.

Apart from the robbery at the forex bureau, the trio are also alleged to have attacked a shop owner at Nungua and robbed him of GH¢11,000 and two other persons of their mobile phones, an HP laptop and a wedding ring at Coco Palace, also located at Nungua.

The weapons that were allegedly used in the operation were presented to the court by the prosecution.

They included a pump action gun, two locally manufactured pistols, a short-barrelled gun and cartridges. 

Bail application

At yesterday’s hearing of the case, counsel for the three accused persons, Mr Theophilus Donkor, prayed the court to grant them bail.

Making his application, counsel prayed that the three had fixed places of abode and would always avail themselves to stand trial.

“They are prepared to stand trial whenever the court calls upon them and they will not interfere with investigations when granted bail,’’ counsel pleaded.

The court, presided over by Mr Aboagye Tandoh, however, remanded the trio and adjourned the case to September 16, 2016 to rule on the bail application.

Facts

Presenting the facts, the prosecutor, Chief Superintendent of Police Mr Duuti Tuaruka, said on August 23, 2016, the gang, armed with a pump action gun and two locally manufactured pistols, entered the Cosmos Forex Bureau and ordered two customers of the facility to surrender their belongings.

He explained that Fuseini hit the forehead of one of the victims and collected GH¢40,000; 67,000 CFA and 20,000 Naira.

“The victims raised an alarm which attracted a lot of people to pursue them. While being pursued, Bediako fired his weapon to scare the people pursuing them. The gang then fled into a bush,’’ he explained.

The prosecutor added that a police patrol team later arrested the gang at different locations in the bush.

“A sack containing GH₵4,388, a pump action, a shot-barrelled gun, a locally manufactured pistol and 13 rounds of cartridges were retrieved from the gang,’’ he said.

According to Mr Tuaruka, upon further interrogation, the gang admitted to robbing three other victims, including a shopkeeper and two occupants of the Cocoa Palace Resort at Nungua.

 

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