Bench Warrant For Veep’s Son

News reports that a bench warrant was issued for the arrest of Mr. Farouk Mahama, son of Vice President Aliu Mahama, has turned out to be false. His alleged involvement in a ¢1.3 billion fraudulent deal has also been denied. Yesterday it turned out that he rather was the complainant in the case.

At an Accra Circuit Court where the trial was supposed to take place, the other complainant in the matter, Emmanuel Kwame Manu, withdrew the charges against the accused person, Nana Poku Agyeman, for an out-of-court settlement.

Musa Ahmed, counsel for Farouk, in an interview with Daily Guide, expressed shock at reports that a bench warrant had been issued for the arrest of Farouk. He said his client was a complainant in the case against the accused person, who allegedly used Farouk’s name to defraud the other complainant.

The accused person was brought before the Circuit Court presided over by Mr. Justice Frank Manu, a Regional Tribunal Chairman, sitting as an additional Circuit Court Judge, for defrauding Emmanuel Manu by false pretences. Nana Poku Agyeman, who had been remanded into custody, was yesterday granted bail after the agreement to settle the matter out of court.

According to counsel for Farouk, the complainant, a businessman, contacted the accused person who was a friend to Farouk and informed him about a problem he had with Customs, Excise and Preventive Services (CEPS) over the clearance of his goods.

The accused person introduced Manu to Farouk and later allegedly succeeded in taking money to the tune of ¢1.3 billion from Manu, after telling him that Farouk would use the money to facilitate the clearance of his goods. When Manu realised that his goods were not being delivered, he confronted Farouk.

It was during the ensuing altercations that both Farouk and Manu realized that Nana Poku had taken money from the businessman. Consequently, they lodged a complaint with the police and he was arrested.