A customs officer and two other people have been remanded by an Accra Circuit Court on suspicion of stealing gold worth USD4,303,234.00 that belonged to GND Global Trade LLC. Customs officer Emmanuel Dwamena, 38, merchants Seth Dzamesi, 43, and Abdul Karim Lakoh, 38, denied planning to steal the 75 kilograms of gold bars. On March 27, 2023, they would be hauled back before the Court. George Asamoah, their accomplice, is evading capture in the meantime.
Prosecuting, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Evans Kesse, said the Complainants: Abdallah Ali, Farhad Sami and Zev Volf, were citizens of the United Arab Emirates and Australia, respectively. Lakoh is a Sierra Leonean, as Dzamesi, a Ghanaian, claimed to be a businessman, residing at Tantra hills and Dwamena, the customs officer, also a Ghanaian, resided at Kasoa and Asamoah was at large.
He said in March 2023, the complainants went to Sierra Leone to buy Gold and Lakoh, who was among the people who sold the gold to the complainants, promised to assist the complainants from Sierra Leone through Ghana on transit to Dubai with the gold. DSP Kesse said on March 16, 2023, the Complainants and Lakoh arrived at the Kotoka International Airport with Sky Airline with their personal belongings, including 75 kilos of gold bars. However, when the complainants landed at Kotoka International Airport Ghana, Lakoh managed to come out from the arrival hall and Asamoah, now at large on cell phone 0269736510 and Asamoah came to the Airport in a black Range Rover vehicle to pick Lakoh out of the arrival hall.
The court was told that they encountered Dzamesi, who was driving a Toyota Hilux Pickup with the customs logo and the license plate GX. Dzamesi stole the bag containing the 75 kg of gold bars and kept it inside the Toyota pickup. He claimed that while the complainants were at the transit arrival hall, an immigration officer secretly removed them and gave them to Dwamena at the departure hall. Dwamena then allegedly drove the complainants to a fictitious customs bonded warehouse at East Legon, Accra, with House No. 18 Shamo Kwei Avenue, where they met Dzamesi, a man posing as a customs officer.
Prosecution said the bag containing the 75 kilos of gold bars was sent to his office, where Dzamesi forced the complainants out of his office after taking the gold. Dwamena drove the complainants back to the Airport and abandoned them. At the Airport, the Court heard that Lakoh attempted to escape but he was arrested and handed over to the Airport Police for investigation. Additional background checks on Lakoh revealed that the 75 kilograms of gold bars were stolen from Kotoka International Airport with the assistance of Dwamena and Asamoah, who also happened to be their Ghanaian accomplices. The gold scandal originated in Sierra Leone. He claimed that the accused confirmed the crime in their cautionary statement, claiming that they planned the gold theft from Sierra Leone with help from Ghanaian accomplices. Arrest attempts are being made for the other conspirators.
