Policeman arrested over ?3.2m theft

A POLICEMAN who allegedly stole ?3. 2 million from a taxi driver he had arrested for breaching traffic regulations has been apprehended by the Accra Central Police.

Corporal Issifu Ali Asamoah was said to have deserted his guard post at the Bank of Ghana, to mount a motor check to arrest traffic offenders from whom he collected various sums of money.

After arresting the taxi driver, Corporal Asamoah allegedly took him to the Accra Central Police station, where he stole the money in a black polythene bag under the front seat and bolted.

According to a police source, the suspect was assigned to the Bank of Ghana from 6p.m to the next day on April 4 and while on duty he deserted his post to conduct checks on vehicles.

The source said at about 4:30 a.m, he allegedly arrested Mr Sia Yariga, who was driving a Hyundai taxi with registration number GW 6552 Q on the High Street for driving without headlights.

Corporal Asamoah then demanded the documents covering the vehicle and when he failed to produce them, the suspect sat in the taxi and asked him to drive to the MTTU but on their way, he demanded ?50,000 from the driver.

The source said the driver who felt the demand was very high offered to pay ?20,000 but Corporal Asamoah refused and directed the driver to drive to the Central police station.

On the way, the driver took ?18,000 from a black polythene bag lying under the front seat and gave it to Corporal Asamoah who after collecting the money demanded to know the contents of the bag.

On reaching the police station, the suspect directed the driver to park the taxi at the back of the station. He took the black polythene bag with the explanation that he wanted to check the contents of the bag but bolted with it.

After waiting for several hours, the driver went to the station and reported the incident to the commander in charge, who invited Asamoah for questioning. He denied any knowledge of the bag but some of his colleagues who saw him enter his girlfriend’s room with the black polythene bag gave him up.

When the girl was contacted, she confessed that Corporal Asamoah brought the bag to her for safe keeping and handed it over to the police.

Asamoah at this stage broke down and confessed the offence and pleaded for forgiveness. He was however detained and on the instruction of the Inspector General of Police, he has been interdicted.