Suspect Accuses Police of Fraud

A supected armed robber, standing trial together with three other persons at the Accra Fast Track High (FTC), yesterday told the court that the police has perpetrated an act of fraud on him regarding the police statement he voluntarily gave after his arrest. Kwaku Frempong, alias Ibo Man, asserted whiles opening his defence that the police misrepresented him, when documenting his oral statement at the police headquarters.

This was against the background that prosecution's evidence before the court indicated that Frempong went together with his co-accused persons to the complainant's residence to rob him at gunpoint.

Standing in the witness box, Frempong emphatically stated that he never told the police in his statement that he was among the three other accused persons, who robbed off the vehicle from the complainant.

Frempong is on trial together with Ernest Ababio alias Blackie, Daniel Amewu alias Coffie and Raymond Kweku Wilson, on charges of conspiracy to commit robbery and robbery.

Frempong was alleged to have conspired with his co-accused persons on April 23, 2002 to rob a BMW with registration number GR 5158 Q belonging to one, Mr. Biggah in his residence in Accra.

The vehicle was subsequently found at Frempong's hometown in Asante-Akim Domeabra, prosecution indicated.

The accused persons have all denied the charges leveled against them, but are currently in custody.

Led by his counsel, Mr. Hoeyi, Frempong told the court that he was a secondhand shoe seller and a barbering and communication center operator at Abeka at the time of his arrest, pointing out that the vehicle was brought to him at his shop for sale by the three co-accused persons, who claimed that it was sent from Germany to them to sell.

According to Frempong, he got to know the other accused persons when they started patronizing his barbering shop, three months before they brought the vehicle to him for sale.

Frempong told the court in his evidence that after the approach taken by the three other accused persons, he promised to find a customer to buy the vehicle at a target cost of ?40 million.

He further indicated that the vehicle was without registration number when the other three accused persons brought it to him on May 6, 2002 and that it was the intended buyer, who got a Ghanaian number plate for the vehicle, to enable it travel from Accra to the Ashanti region, where he was residing for testing.

According to the accused person, he voluntarily took the police investigator to his hometown to retrieve the vehicle.

Meanwhile, Frempong has filed an alibi indicating that he was nowhere near the scene of robbery and that he was with his wife and children at their residence in Abeka.

In cross-examination led by Mr. Augustines Obour, Assistant State Attorney, Frempong noted that he found a DVD player in the vehicle after a private security man, who he intended to leave the vehicle with, demanded that the vehicle be opened for inspection.

According to him, he informed the 4th accused person about the existence of the DVD in the vehicle the following morning who informed him that he and his other colleagues had previously taken it somewhere to watch.

Accused person totally denied being part of the team who robbed the vehicle, and further denied the DVD being part of his booty from the car robbery, as suggested by the prosecution.

Sitting was adjourned to today, Dec 7, 2005.