Documenst covering shipment were false, witness tells court

Accra (Greater Accra) 22 Feb. '99

An American businesswoman who was defrauded of more than 300,000 dollars in a gold deal on Monday told a circuit court in Accra that she found that documents covering the shipment of gold to be exported were fake.

Miss Maria Socorro Aranetta from California was giving evidence in a case in which four persons and a mining company are charged with conspiracy to defraud, defrauding by false pretences and forgery of documents. The accused persons are Nana Kweku Anim Addo, Charles Kwabena Kusi, Kofi Edusei, all directors of Dredge Masters Company Limited and Alhaji Abubakari Marga, a businessman. Also on trial is the company. All the accused persons have pleaded not guilty.

Miss Aranetta said she was told that the scheduled date for the shipment of the gold was January five this year. When the shipment delayed for two weeks, she realised she had been defrauded and therefore reported the matter to the Serious Fraud Office (SF0). Anim-Addo is on a 300 million-cedi bail with two sureties to be justified. The remaining three are on a 200 million-cedi bail each with two sureties to be justified. Miss Aranetta told the court that after personal contacts with Anim-Addo in California in 1998, she came to Ghana on December 27, 1998 with two of his cousins to finalise arrangements for the shipment of a quantity of alluvial gold dust which Anim-Addo promised to purchase for her.

Witness said before she arrived, Anim-Addo on November 11, called her from Ghana and requested 64,000 dollars which she sent through Western Union Money transfer. She said early last December, Anim-Addo called again and requested an additional 200,000 dollars for the transaction and asked her to come to Ghana to send the gold to California. Witness said when she and her cousins arrived, Anim-Addo introduced them to the other accused persons and they took photographs with them. He then took them to his company's warehouse where they saw steel boxes allegedly containing gold dust and gold bars.

Miss Aranetta said she asked a cousin of hers in California to transfer 200,000 dollars through Western Union and the amount was paid into the National Investment Bank (NIB) account of Anim-Addo's company. She said when the amount was transferred, the accused told her to accompany him to his attorney so that an affidavit could be prepared that the amount transferred was meant for a rice project and not for the purchase of gold.

Witness said Anim-Addo initially withdrew 69 million cedis from his company's account and told her that the money was meant to cover expenses for the shipment of the gold. She said the accused told her that shipment was to be made on January five, this year, but when the time came, Anim-Addo defaulted. Later, Alhaji Marga confided in her that Anim-Addo's preparation of affidavits and other promises on the gold business, were all "a ploy" Miss Aranetta told the court. Hearing continues on Wednesday, February 24.