Man arrested for allegedly stealing rental car

The Achimota Circuit Court has remanded into police custody a 33-year-old man for allegedly stealing a Toyota Corolla worth GH¢100,000 from a car rental company in Accra.

Andrew Amoah Ampaw is said to have rented the car for five days before giving it to someone he allegedly owed money to.

Charged with stealing, Ampaw had pleaded not guilty before the court presided over by Isaac Addo.

The accused person is expected to reappear on March 21.

The prosecution, led by Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Stephen Ahiale, said the complainant, Aaron Kofi Mensah, and the accused are businessmen based in Accra.

ASP Ahiale told the court that on February 29, this year, the complainant went to the Legon Police Station and reported that on January 29, 2024, he received a call from a friend who runs a car rental business and is a witness in the case, asking that a Toyota vehicle be rented to Ampaw for five days.

The prosecution said on the same day, the complainant handed over his Toyota Corolla with registration number CR 106-21 to Ampaw after paying the five-day rental fee.

However, the prosecution said that when the period had expired, Ampaw failed to return the car to the complainant or extend the vehicle’s rental.

The prosecution told the court that Ampaw disabled the tracking device put in the vehicle, and the complainant’s attempts to collect the car were unsuccessful.

The complainant later learned that the accused had been arrested and detained in the Legon District CID for a similar offence.

During the investigation, Ampaw confessed to renting the vehicle and giving it to someone he owed money to, with the intention to return it by the end of February 2024, when he would have paid off his debt to the person.

Ampaw failed to lead the police to the person in question for the vehicle to be retrieved since he claimed he did not know the individual’s address.