Ghana court remands Nigerian man over alleged possession of fake currency notes

An Accra Circuit Court has remanded a 55-year-old Nigerian man who is accused of bringing in suspected counterfeit CFA France and Nigerian Naira notes.

On January 17, 2023, Aremu Timothy Adegboyega was detained by a joint security team as he attempted to enter Ghana from Togo via the unauthorized Beat Zero route in Aflao.

Ahmed Majeed Amandi, Assistant Commissioner of the Aflao Division of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), reported that the employees discovered CFA 80,000,000 in brand-new notes, along with another CFA 843,000 in the suspect’s waist bag and N 110,500 in his wallet.

Adegboyega, who was accused of having fake notes, entered a not guilty plea. The accused was a flight risk and would impede the police investigation, so the prosecution asked the court to remand him.

The accused was remanded into police custody by the court, which was presided over by Mrs. Afia Owusuaa Appiah.

The court ordered the prosecution to submit and serve all disclosures and witness testimonies. The matter will now be heard on February 9, 2023.

The complainants were Customs Officers assigned to the Aflao Sector, whereas the accused was based in Cote D’Ivoire, according to the prosecutor, Police Chief Inspector Isaac Anquandah.

The prosecution said on January 17, 2023, the complainants were on duty at Beat Zero, an unapproved route along the Ghana-Togo border within the Aflao Sector. It said at about 1530 hours on the same day, the complainants accosted the accused person sitting on a motorcycle as a pillion rider carrying a backpack.

The prosecution said the accused person, who was travelling from Togo, entered Ghana through an unapproved route so the complainants became suspicious and conducted a search in the backpack he was carrying. It said the search revealed bundles of CFA Franc notes and Nigerian Naira notes suspected to be counterfeit currency notes being smuggled into the country through the unapproved route.

The prosecution said the currency notes were counted in front of the accused person and it was found to be CFA80,653,000.00 and N10,500.00. It said the accused person was later escorted to the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority Headquarters, Accra for further investigations.

The prosecution said on January 20, 2023, the case was handed over to the Police for continuation of investigations. It said the accused person allegedly admitted the offence in his investigation cautioned statement and indicated that he was aware that the notes were counterfeit and claimed, one Alhaji Dialo, a mallam in Abidjan, sent him to pick the currency notes from one Alhaji Saibu in Nigeria.