REPUBLIC vs. MAIKANKAN AND OTHERS [1972]DLHC2416

Date	1972-09-05
Suit No.
Citation No.	[1972]DLHC2416

ABOAGYE J.

K. A. SEKYI PRINCIPAL STATE ATTORNEY FOR THE REPUBLIC.

H. P. SWANKER FOR THE FIRST ACCUSED.

OFOSU-ASANTE FOR THE FIFTH ACCUSED.

P. A. ADJETEY FOR THE FOURTH AND SIXTH ACCUSED.

KWAKU BOATENG (WITH HIM A. B. K. QUARTEY) FOR THE SEVENTH EIGHTH AND NINTH ACCUSED.

[1972]DLHC2416
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													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" >REPUBLIC <o:p></o:p>vs. <o:p></o:p>MAIKANKAN AND OTHERS <o:p></o:p>[HIGH COURT ACCRA]<o:p></o:p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;[1972]
2 GLR 502<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0in 0in 0in 0in">

DATE:
5 SEPTEMBER 1972.<o:p></o:p>

</div>COUNSEL:&nbsp;&nbsp; <o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0in 0in 0in 0in">

K. A. SEKYI, PRINCIPAL STATE ATTORNEY, FOR THE
REPUBLIC.<o:p></o:p>

H. P. SWANKER FOR THE FIRST ACCUSED.<o:p></o:p>

OFOSU-ASANTE FOR THE FIFTH ACCUSED.<o:p></o:p>

P. A. ADJETEY FOR THE FOURTH AND SIXTH ACCUSED.<o:p></o:p>

KWAKU BOATENG (WITH HIM A. B. K. QUARTEY) FOR THE
SEVENTH, EIGHTH AND NINTH ACCUSED.<o:p></o:p>

</div>CORAM:
<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0in 0in 0in 0in">

ABOAGYE J.<o:p></o:p>

</div><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>JUDGMENT OF ABOAGYE J.<o:p></o:p>The ten accused
persons are charged with various offences, namely, (1) conspiracy to defraud
contrary to sections 23 (1) and 131 of the Criminal Code, 1960 (Act 29); (2)
conspiracy to contravene the restrictions imposed by section 6 of the Exchange
Control Act, 1961 (Act 7 1); (3) conspiracy to commit forgery contrary to
sections 23 (1) and 159 of the Criminal Code, 1960; (4) forgery, contrary to
section 159 of the Criminal Code, 1960; (5) uttering forged documents, contrary
to section 169 of the Criminal Code, 1960; (6) defrauding by false pretences
contrary to section 131 of the Criminal Code 1960; (7) making illegal payments
outside Ghana, contrary to section 6 of the Exchange Control Act, 1961, and
paragraph 5 (1) of Part II of the Fourth Schedule to the Exchange Control Act,
1961 (Act 71). There are 515 charges in all and each of the accused persons has
pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>The case
for the prosecution is simple: it is that the accused persons, all in the
cattle business, conspired to defraud the Bank of Ghana by false pretences and
they did in fact defraud the bank in its foreign exchange reserves by making
illegal payments outside Ghana. Acting as cattle dealers or agents of importers
of cattle into Ghana, the accused persons transferred the various sums of money
stated in the charges abroad on the strength of exchange control forms Al
approved by the Bank of Ghana. The documents which supported the applications
for the approval, namely, veterinary permits, customs bills of entry, agency
agreements, and tax clearance certificates, were all forgeries and the accused
persons knew of the falsity of the documents. In some cases the exchange
control forms Al were themselves forged by some of the accused persons.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>At the
close of the case for the prosecution learned counsel for the first, fourth,
fifth, seventh and eighth accused persons submitted that the prosecution had
failed to prove any of the charges against their clients. It has also been
submitted that apart from the charges of forgery, none of the charges against
the sixth accused had been established.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>Since all
the charges arose from the transfers of moneys to persons abroad who allegedly
brought cattle to Ghana to sell, it is necessary to state the procedure laid
down by the Bank of Ghana for transferring the proceeds of the sale of cattle.
The procedure as stated by officials of the Bank of Ghana, the Ghana Commercial
Bank, the Standard Bank (Ghana) Ltd., the Customs and Excise Department and the
Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Health Division, called by the prosecution is
as follows: When a person imports cattle into Ghana for sale, the animals are
quarantined for nine days at the border. After the quarantine period the
importer is issued with a veterinary permit to import livestock by an official
of the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Health Division. The importer then
obtains a customs bill of entry from an official of the Customs and Excise
Department at the border. The customs and excise bill of entry is referred to
as form C. 63. On this form is entered the type of animals and the quantity
imported, their country of origin, the total value of the animals, the name of
the importer and the amount of duty payable on the cattle. The ori</main>