Tema, July 12, GNA --The Tema Community Tribunal on Monday remanded John Tawiah Kolley, a tanker driver, in custody on charges of stealing 13,500 litres of petrol valued at 10 million cedis, from Accra Plains Goil Depot.
He pleaded not guilty on two counts of stealing and will re-appear on July 26. Chief Inspector Margaret Nunoo, prosecuting, told the tribunal chaired by Captain Philip Agbeyomey (rtd) that on April 24, 1998, at about 23:00 hours Policemen on duty at the Kpone Barrier, on a tip off, rushed to the Accra Plains depot.
When they got there two tankers with registration numbers GR 8951 J and GT 8366 E were loading fuel products from the main petrol line of the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR).
She said the Police discovered on their arrival that the driver in charge of GT 8366 E had filled his tanker to full capacity of 13,500 litres of petrol, valued at 10 million cedis, and managed to escape.
However, the driver of GR 8915 J was arrested, put before the tribunal and was jailed last year. Inspector Nunoo said on July seven, a foreman of TOR, who knew the identity of the accused, saw him and quickly informed the Tema Regional Crime Officer and he was arrested.
She said during interrogations, Kolley told the Police, "I am a fisherman. I have never been a driver before, and I don't know the owner of the tanker", adding the Police are yet to trace the owner of the tanker.
The prosecutor said, during initial investigations in April last year, the owner of the tanker in a cautioned statement to the Police, mentioned the name of his driver as John Tawiah Kolley.
