An Accra Circuit Court Judge, Emmanuel Essandoh, has remanded two persons who were arraigned before the court on charges of stealing 15 HP Probook laptops belonging to the NIA.
The two, Frank Nketia, a trader and Victor Maduka, a businessman pleaded not guilty to three charges of stealing, possession of stolen properties and dishonestly receiving contrary to the law.
They were, however, remanded into police custody to reappear on June 26 of.
Lawyers of the accused person moved an oral application for them to be granted bail, but the court said the charge of stealing NIA property should be a subject of concern and declined the application.
Assistant Superintendent of Police, Rita Yeboah, told the court that the complainant in the case is Emmanuel Selby, the head of Projects and Information Management system under the auspices of the NIA.
While Frank Nketia first accused, a trader and Victor Maduka, the second accused person a businessman both reside at Tetegu and Lapaz.
According to the prosecutor, in October, last year the government procured more than 5,000 HP Probook laptops computers from Denmark for the NIA to be used to issue the ECOWAS Cards to Ghanaians.
She said in February this year, 64 of the laptops were detected stolen from the NIA’s premises and investigations into the case revealed that one of the employees working under the complainant stole the laptops and disposed 15 of them at Circle in Accra.
The prosecutor said they could not lead the police to the dishonestly receivers.
ASP Yeboah said on June 14, seven of the stolen laptops were retrieved from shops at Burma Camp in Accra and when the serial numbers were scanned, these were among the laptop procured for NIA.
Investigation revealed that in March this year, Nketia received and bargained the price of 12 HP Probook from two others, now at large and kept them.
The Prosecutor said Nketia later called Maduka who came and purchased same at, ¢1,500.00 for each.
She told the court that, during the lockdown, some businessmen at Circle had their shops locked-up which included Nketia’s shop.
Maduka then gave the laptop to a friend to sell for him where the supervisor of that shop at Burma Camp bought the retrieved ones and was issued with a receipt.
The prosecutor told the court that they admitted the offences in their caution statement to the police and after investigations they were accordingly charged with the offence and put before the court.
