BNI frees NPP chairman car

The Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) has finally handed over a Range Rover vehicle they seized from Joseph Kwame Donkor, the Gomoa West New Patriotic Party (NPP) chairman.

The BNI seized the vehicle when Mr. Donkor was arrested for his alleged involvement in the Turkey gold deal. Earlier, all his efforts to get his car back had proved futile.

However, yesterday, when the issue was raised at an Accra Circuit Court presided over by Justice Patience Mills-Tetteh, an investigator from the BNI informed the court that he had been instructed to hand over the car to Mr. Donkor.

When the court asked the officer why the BNI seized the vehicle, he responded that it was for investigation purposes and now that they had found out that Mr. Donkor acquired the vehicle through genuine means, they had decided to give it back to him.

Information gathered later by Daily Guide showed that the vehicle, which was handed over to the NPP Chairman, was in bed state and as a result of that his lawyer had written to the BNI Director seeking that he vehicle is repaired.

Joseph Donkor with two others Peter Kofi Bedzra, the Chief Executive Officer of Omanye Gold Mining and Frank Mould, a forwarding agent, is standing trial on various charges for allegedly exporting 15 tonnes of gold valued $52 million to Dubai without proper documentation.

His lawyer, Alex Abban, also prayed the court for the release of his passport to enable him to travel, which the court obliged.

Earlier, the state attorney in the case, who felt he had been ambushed by the BNI for not being informed about their decision to hand over the vehicle, prayed the court to regard the investigator as a friend of the court because he did not have locus in the matter.

The investigator, however, explained that he did not know the Attorney-General had taken the matter up and was therefore in court to inform DSP Abraham Annor, the police prosecutor, about the decision.

The case has been adjourned to May 27, for continuation.

All the accused persons have denied the charges and are currently on bail.

The facts as presented by DSP Abraham Annor, are that in December 2012, one Valid Moradi MOGHADDAM and his partners, all Arabs, came to Ghana to buy gold.

They reportedly came into contact with Omanye Gold Mining limited who sold to them quantity of gold weighting 15 tonnes at the value of $52 million dollars.

The Arabs, according to the prosecutor, packed the gold into 30 boxes and prepared them for export to Dubai.