Witness in stealing case subpoenaed
Gilbert Boyefio
05/07/2008
An Accra High Court has subpoenaed one Adeti to appear in court on July 15 to give evidence in a case in which two judges and a registrar, all of the Denu High Court in Ho, are standing trial for allegedly stealing monies paid into court.
The order was issued by the Court after Adeti, who will be the first prosecution witness in the case, failed to appear in court yesterday.
The three accused persons, Justice Edward Mensah Boateng, Justice Michael Kwasi Woanyah and Jacob Dickson Owusu, are charged with conspiracy, breach of trust and stealing. They are alleged to have stolen an amount of GH¢10,650.00 being part of interest that accrued on money paid into court by the Great Lakes Company, on behalf of parties in a civil suit.
They have pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
The facts of the case as presented to the Court by Edward Agyemang Doudu, a Principal State Attorney, were that the first accused, Justice Edward Mensah Boateng, was a High Court Judge now on interdiction. He formerly presided over the High Court at Denu before being transferred to Sefwi Wiawso, in the Western Region, and thence to Cape Coast.
Before his transfer, he was trying a case at Denu titled, Torgbui Yao Awhime and another versus Mama Agbowugbe Attikpo and two others, which was filed at the Denu High Court on October 18, 2000. The parties in this case were in dispute over the ownership of land in the Denu area on which a company, the Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Limited, operated a stone quarry.
The second accused, Jacob Dickson Owusu, was a Senior Registrar of the High Court in Denu during the pending of the civil action. The third accused, Justice Michael Kwasi Woanya, now on retirement, assumed duty at the Denu High Court in November 2002 and continued the trial of this civil suit and gave judgment on the matter on December 22, 2003.
According to the prosecution, the facts disclosed that in the course of the trial, Great Lakes Company Limited was folding up but owed some money to the owners of the site on which they operated the stone quarry.
The company therefore, wrote to enquire from Justice Boateng (then presiding at Denu High Court) on how the money was to be paid to the owners who were the parties before the court. Justice Boateng directed that the company should pay the money into court by cheque.
Subsequently, the Great Lakes Company issued a cheque for US$50,754.9 which was received by the Registrar, Jacob Owusu. The prosecution told the Court that Justice Boateng and Jacob Owusu then agreed with a common objective to put the money into a fixed deposit account and share the interest or proceeds that would accrue on it.
According to the prosecution, "in furtherance of this criminal objective”, Jacob Owusu opened an account in the name of the Registrar, Denu High Court, at the Agricultural Development Bank at Denu with GH¢100 of his own money.
The cheque from the company was paid into the Bank and on November 2001, the account was credited with GH¢35,517.97 being the cedi equivalent of the proceeds from the US$50,754.9.
On November 16, 2001, an amount of GH¢35,000.00 was withdrawn from the account and invested in a fixed deposit account by Justice Boateng.
However, before the fixed deposit account investment could mature in the first instance, Justice Boateng was transferred from Denu to Sefwi Wiawso. Nonetheless, “in pursuit of their agreed objective of sharing the proceeds”, Justice Boateng sent his wife to Jacob Owusu to collect his share of the proceeds each time the interest from the fixed deposit account was credited to the account.
The prosecution said the facts indicate that the interests were cashed on March 8, 2002; May 15, 2002, May 21, 2002; August 20, 2002, August 21, 2002; and November 22, 2002 and that Jacob Owusu shared the proceeds with Justice Boateng from March 8, 2002 to August 21, 2002, but the withdrawal of November 22, 2002 was appropriated by Jacob Owusu alone.
In November 2002, Justice Michael Woanyah assumed duty as the High Court Judge at Denu and after consultation with Jacob Owusu on the civil suit which was the subject for the payment into court of the money by the Great Lakes Company, also joined the conspiracy to share the proceeds from the fixed deposit account. He then directed Jacob Owusu to stop sharing the proceeds with Justice Boateng but rather cash and share the proceeds with him (Woanyah).
Thereafter, Jacob Owusu cashed and shared proceeds from the account with Justice Woanyah on June 6, 2003; September 5, 2003; and December 11, 2003.
The prosecution disclosed to the court that in all, the three accused persons dishonestly appropriated GH¢10,650.00 of the proceeds accrued from money paid into court by the company.
Apart from the present High Court 4 which is sitting on this case, two other High Courts have sat on it. The case was previously before Justice Asamoah at Fast Track High Court 2 in 2005, but was moved to Justice Iris May Brown's court, FTC 5, after the trial judge fell ill and died in 2007.
05/07/2008
An Accra High Court has subpoenaed one Adeti to appear in court on July 15 to give evidence in a case in which two judges and a registrar, all of the Denu High Court in Ho, are standing trial for allegedly stealing monies paid into court.
The order was issued by the Court after Adeti, who will be the first prosecution witness in the case, failed to appear in court yesterday.
The three accused persons, Justice Edward Mensah Boateng, Justice Michael Kwasi Woanyah and Jacob Dickson Owusu, are charged with conspiracy, breach of trust and stealing. They are alleged to have stolen an amount of GH¢10,650.00 being part of interest that accrued on money paid into court by the Great Lakes Company, on behalf of parties in a civil suit.
They have pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
The facts of the case as presented to the Court by Edward Agyemang Doudu, a Principal State Attorney, were that the first accused, Justice Edward Mensah Boateng, was a High Court Judge now on interdiction. He formerly presided over the High Court at Denu before being transferred to Sefwi Wiawso, in the Western Region, and thence to Cape Coast.
Before his transfer, he was trying a case at Denu titled, Torgbui Yao Awhime and another versus Mama Agbowugbe Attikpo and two others, which was filed at the Denu High Court on October 18, 2000. The parties in this case were in dispute over the ownership of land in the Denu area on which a company, the Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Limited, operated a stone quarry.
The second accused, Jacob Dickson Owusu, was a Senior Registrar of the High Court in Denu during the pending of the civil action. The third accused, Justice Michael Kwasi Woanya, now on retirement, assumed duty at the Denu High Court in November 2002 and continued the trial of this civil suit and gave judgment on the matter on December 22, 2003.
According to the prosecution, the facts disclosed that in the course of the trial, Great Lakes Company Limited was folding up but owed some money to the owners of the site on which they operated the stone quarry.
The company therefore, wrote to enquire from Justice Boateng (then presiding at Denu High Court) on how the money was to be paid to the owners who were the parties before the court. Justice Boateng directed that the company should pay the money into court by cheque.
Subsequently, the Great Lakes Company issued a cheque for US$50,754.9 which was received by the Registrar, Jacob Owusu. The prosecution told the Court that Justice Boateng and Jacob Owusu then agreed with a common objective to put the money into a fixed deposit account and share the interest or proceeds that would accrue on it.
According to the prosecution, "in furtherance of this criminal objective”, Jacob Owusu opened an account in the name of the Registrar, Denu High Court, at the Agricultural Development Bank at Denu with GH¢100 of his own money.
The cheque from the company was paid into the Bank and on November 2001, the account was credited with GH¢35,517.97 being the cedi equivalent of the proceeds from the US$50,754.9.
On November 16, 2001, an amount of GH¢35,000.00 was withdrawn from the account and invested in a fixed deposit account by Justice Boateng.
However, before the fixed deposit account investment could mature in the first instance, Justice Boateng was transferred from Denu to Sefwi Wiawso. Nonetheless, “in pursuit of their agreed objective of sharing the proceeds”, Justice Boateng sent his wife to Jacob Owusu to collect his share of the proceeds each time the interest from the fixed deposit account was credited to the account.
The prosecution said the facts indicate that the interests were cashed on March 8, 2002; May 15, 2002, May 21, 2002; August 20, 2002, August 21, 2002; and November 22, 2002 and that Jacob Owusu shared the proceeds with Justice Boateng from March 8, 2002 to August 21, 2002, but the withdrawal of November 22, 2002 was appropriated by Jacob Owusu alone.
In November 2002, Justice Michael Woanyah assumed duty as the High Court Judge at Denu and after consultation with Jacob Owusu on the civil suit which was the subject for the payment into court of the money by the Great Lakes Company, also joined the conspiracy to share the proceeds from the fixed deposit account. He then directed Jacob Owusu to stop sharing the proceeds with Justice Boateng but rather cash and share the proceeds with him (Woanyah).
Thereafter, Jacob Owusu cashed and shared proceeds from the account with Justice Woanyah on June 6, 2003; September 5, 2003; and December 11, 2003.
The prosecution disclosed to the court that in all, the three accused persons dishonestly appropriated GH¢10,650.00 of the proceeds accrued from money paid into court by the company.
Apart from the present High Court 4 which is sitting on this case, two other High Courts have sat on it. The case was previously before Justice Asamoah at Fast Track High Court 2 in 2005, but was moved to Justice Iris May Brown's court, FTC 5, after the trial judge fell ill and died in 2007.
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