Accra, Sept. 9, GNA – John Nyarko, who is alleged to have visited various Ministries and made away with four laptop computers has been nabbed and put before an Accra Circuit Court.
Nyarko, an ex-convict is said to have stolen the laptops from Ghana Health Service, Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), Ministry of Communications and Bank of Ghana.
Charged with conspiracy and stealing, Nyarko, alias John Boye or Foster Nyarko has pleaded guilty to all the charges and was convicted on his own plea but sentence deferred to Friday, September 18, 2020.
His accomplice, Gerald Otoo, who is said to have dishonestly received the items however denied the offence.
He has since been granted GH¢80,000.00 with three sureties, one to be justified with a landed property.
Police Sergeant Daniel Ofori Appiah who held brief for Superintendent Alex Odonkor told the court, the complainants; Franklina Fia, Kwasi Owusu Ansah Amadi, Gabriel Sackey and Alex Kassim are employees of Ministry of Health, Ministry of Communications, SSNIT and Bank of Ghana.
He said Nyarko is an ex-convict and unemployed whilst Otoo is a computer technician who formatted the computers and sold them.
Prosecution said in June and July this year, the Ministries Police recorded laptop computer thefts from the various Ministries and Departments, adding that, Police visited the above Ministries and Departments where Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) footages of the incident were obtained to assist in investigations.
He said when the footages were revealed, Nyarko was captured stealing the laptop computers from the various offices within the Ministries and Departments.
Prosecution said investigations revealed that Nyarko occasionally visited various offices located within the Ministries enclave under the disguise of seeing the Human Resource Managers for employment and took advantage of that to steal the laptop computers and sold them to Otoo at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle.
He said Nyarko, with the same modus operandi, stole one HP I3 laptop valued GH¢2,500.00 belonging to Fia of Ministry of Health and HP Intel I Core 7 laptop computer valued at GH¢3,500.00 belonging to Ministry of Communications.
Prosecution said he also stole HP notebook laptop computer valued at GH¢5,395.35 belonging to SSNIT and one HP Specter laptop computer valued at USD 1,300 belonging to one Kafui Yao Giritsi of Bank of Ghana Head Office which he sold to Otoo.
He said on August 28, 2020, at about 1530 hours, Nyarko using the same modus operandi gained access to the premises of Bank of Ghana Head Office but he was identified, apprehended and handed over to Police by the security personnel.
He said during investigations, Nyarko admitted stealing the computers and confessed that he sold them to Otoo and led Police to the Kwame Nkrumah Circle where Otoo was also arrested.
The prosecution said one of the four laptops was retrieved and Otoo admitted selling the remaining three to the unidentified customers.
And after investigations, they were charged and put before court.
GNA