Traditional ruler in court over land fraud

Numo Adenyena is alleged to have collected the money under the pretext of selling four acres of land at Tsopoli to the company.

Charged with an attempt to commit a crime, namely fraudulent transactions and defrauding by false pretence, Numo Adeyena has pleaded not guilty.

The prosecution told the court that the accused person had refunded GHC140,000.

The court presided over by Mrs. Kizita Naa Koowa Quashie, bailed the accused person an amount of GHC 250,000 with two sureties.

The court ordered the accused person to deposit a valid passport, which would not expire before March 25, 2025, the voter’s ID, or Ghana Card at the Court Registry.

According to the court, it was adjourning the matter to April 30, 2024, for the parties to attempt reconciliation.

Defense Counsel Lordia Addison prayed to the court to admit the accused person to bail.

According to the counsel, the accused person, also the head of the family, was not a flight risk.

She said the accused person had been on police investigation bail and had cooperated with the police.

The prosecution led by Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Emmanuel Haligah said the complainant, Shen Jaiming, was a Chinese and a resident of Tsopoli.

The prosecutor said the accused person was the head of the Djangmaku-Manya family of Old Ningo and a resident of Old Ningo.

The court heard that in May 2023, the complainant needed a parcel of land at Tsopoli for his company, Skylight Manufacturing Limited, for a project and was introduced to Andrews Darpong by his lawyer as a land agent who could assist him in getting a parcel of land.

The complainant, the prosecution said, contacted Andrews Darpoh, who led him to the accused person’s family. He said the accused person assured him that his family could sell him four acres of land at Tsopoli at the cost of GHC 720,000.

The prosecution said the accused person instructed the family surveyor, who led the complainant to a parcel of land close to the Saglime Government Housing project, and he (the complainant) developed an interest.

The court was told that the accused person later collected an initial amount of GHC 360,000 from Shen Jiaming and prepared a sale and purchase agreement between them.

On June 14, 2023, Andrew Darpoh and others, along with the complainant and one Li Tian Zhong, waited on the land for the accused person’s family surveyor to demarcate the four acres of land for them.

The prosecution said while on the land, police officers on duty at the Saglime Government Housing Project led by Chief Inspector Agustine Gershon Dormekpor spotted them and, after questioning, arrested them and took them to the CID Headquarters.

The prosecution said that the same day, the accused person, in his caution statement, indicated that the land formed part of his family land.

The prosecutor said investigations revealed that the four-acre land the accused person sold did not belong to his family, according to an official search report from the Lands Commission.

The prosecution said that in the course of investigations, the accused person refunded GHC140,000 to Skylight Manufacturing Company Limited.