9 Bailed Over GH¢326m UMB Scam

An Accra Circuit Court has granted bail to the nine persons dragged before the court for allegedly targeting GH¢326,120,000 in the accounts of the Universal Merchant Bank (UMB).

They are: James Akwesi Kwarteng, Isaac Kwesi Addokwei, Joseph Kwesi Owusu, Ernest Acheampong and Woemenor Philip.

The rest are Stephen Kofi Tampuri, Michael Nana Yaw, Chief Kingsley Chidi Ebere and Goodluck Otadu.

Bail

The court, presided over Harriet Akweley Quaye, admitted the accused persons to bail in the sum of GH¢400 million with 4 sureties each, one surety to be justified.

As part of the bail conditions, the foreigners among them are to deposit their passports or any Identity at the court registry.

The nine have variously denied two count charge of conspiracy to commit crime to wit stealing and stealing.

The judge had at the previous sitting adjourned the matter to August 14 to study the docket and also to determine the quantum of the bail in the interest of fair trial.

This follows the request for bail filed by the lawyers of the accused person.

Accomplices

The suspects, together with 17 others, who are currently on the run, are said to have between July 22 and 23, 2018 transferred over GH¢1,000,000 of the amount into 18 separate bank accounts which they created with the bank.

They were able to withdraw only GH¢278,000 out of the huge amount using visa cards and mobile money accounts.

The suspects are believed to be part of a wide network of cybercrime syndicates comprising Ghanaians and Nigerians.

Their activities were detected by the bank which blocked them and subsequently caused their arrest, while efforts are being made to apprehend the rest.

This was after the bank had detected that all the accounts that the money was credited to were all single-purpose accounts opened purposely to receive the stolen money and UMB quickly flagged all the accounts.

Bail attempts

Early on, Andrew Vortia, who represented four of the suspects, told the court that his clients will avail themselves for the trial.

He said his clients are innocent and that the real perpetrators are those who are on the run.

He stated that his clients have not withdrawn even any amount from the bank and know nothing about the crime.

Arrest

ASP Mawunyo Nanegbe, prosecuting urged the court to consider the quantum of the money involved before granting the suspects bail.

The management of Universal Merchant Bank (UMB) last month issued a statement that it successfully thwarted a cyber-attack on its systems by some miscreants, who attempted to hack into its infrastructure.

It said the operation, which was done in collaboration with the Ghana Police Service, led to the arrest of members of the syndicate who are currently in police custody assisting in further investigations.

A statement issued by UMB, which is a leading Ghanaian indigenous bank with considerable financial expertise, attributed the success of the operation to the significant infrastructural investments made into the bank’s operational systems.

By: Jeffrey De-Graft Johnson