Two arrested for illegally accessing DVLA electronic web portal

Two persons have appeared before the Dansoman Circuit Court for unlawfully accessing electronic records of the Drivers, Vehicle and Licensing Authority (DVLA) on its online portal.

Delali Yevu, a 42-year-old software developer, and Sabastian Donne, a 32-year-old heavy-duty machine operator, were arrested after charging some drivers GH¢200 each to authenticate their driver’s licenses instead of the approved GH¢471 set by the authority.

The two are facing charges of various counts of conspiracy to commit a crime, unauthorized access to a computer program or electronic record of the DVLA, and defrauding by false pretenses.

Kwaku Torgbo Wise Dziedzorm, a 38-year-old Sales and Onboarding Manager, is also in the dock for allegedly assisting Yevu and Donne in defrauding Francis Kwaku Pinamang and Freeman Moses Ankomah of GH¢200 andGH¢185, respectively.

The money was collected by Yevu, who pretended to be an officer of the DVLA to authenticate Pinamang and Ankomah’s driver’s licenses.

The accused were arrested when the DVLA had wind of their activities at the offices of Moove Ghana Limited at Kanda in Accra.

Yevu, Donne, and Dziedzorm have pleaded not guilty to their respective charges. Despite various bail applications put in by their respective lawyers, the court presided over by Halimah El-Alwa Abdul-Baasit turned them down.

The prosecution also opposed the grant of bail although the trio were on police enquiry bail.

According to the prosecution, because the police did not want to breach the mandatory 48-hour rule of the Service, it admitted Yevu, Donne, and Dziedzorm to an enquiry bail.

The prosecution argued that they would jeopardize police investigations if granted bail and that the police suspected there were other conspirators who had yet to be arrested. Furthermore, the prosecution said the police would amend the charges preferred against the accused.

The court, after considering the facts surrounding the offense and hearing the arguments of the prosecution and defense counsels, remanded them into police custody.

The matter has been adjourned to July 24, 2024, for the Case Management Conference. The court, however, directed the prosecution to expedite investigations and furnish it with disclosures and witness statements.

The case of the prosecution, led by Chief Inspector Christopher Wonder, is that the complainant, Samuel W.A. Kodie, is the head of Security and Safety at the DVLA. On June 27 this year, Yevu applied and went to the Moove Ghana Limited offices for a “work and pay” vehicle.

Whilst at the office, the prosecution said Yevu noticed that there were many drivers who needed their licenses to be authenticated.

According to the prosecution, Yevu, who does not work with the DVLA, approached Dziedzorm and told him that he was an employee of the Authority and could assist them in authenticating their drivers’ licenses.

The court heard that Yevu contacted Donne, who worked for an insurance company at Tema DVLA, and told him about the opportunity to “make money.”

“They planned and agreed to parade themselves as DVLA officers at the Moove Ghana Limited office and used the DVLA online portal for the exercise,” the prosecution said. The court heard that Donne met Yevu and Dziedzorm at Moove Ghana offices dressed in a DVLA-branded vest.

The prosecution said Dziedzorm failed to do due diligence, gathered the teaming drivers, and introduced Yevu and Donne as officers of the DVLA, Tema.

Dziedzorm then informed the drivers that Yevu and Donne had been dispatched from the DVLA Tema office to authenticate their drivers’ licenses and that they would not accept any other authentication report other than the one issued by his accomplices for a fee of GH¢200.

On June 27, 2024, June 28, 2024, and July 2, 2024, Dziedzorm provided office space for Yevu and Donne, who set up their computers and illegally accessed drivers’ information from the DVLA portal, which could only be done by an officer of the authority.

The prosecution said the accused charged each driver GH¢200, including Francis Kwaku Pinamang and Freeman Moses Ankomah, below the official service charge of GH¢471.

It said that DVLA officers learned of their illicit operations and conducted an intelligence-led investigation that resulted in the arrest of the accused. It said investigations are ongoing since other suspects are believed to be involved in the matter.