An Accra Circuit Court has remanded a 47-year-old businessman Mahmoud Odaymat into prison custody for defrauding by false pretense.
The accused is said to have duped a lawyer of his GH₵32,000.00, under the pretext of securing him a Land Rover Jeep vehicle from the Dutch Embassy.
He has since pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Counsel for the accused had prayed for his client to be admitted to bail on grounds that he would avail himself to the court at any point in time should he be granted bail.
The prosecution, however, opposed the bail application, pointing out that the accused was a flight risk since he was not a citizen of the country.
The team feared he may not appear before the court for trial.
After listening to the parties, the court presided by Emmanuel Essandoh sided with the prosecution and subsequently remanded the accused into prison custody.
He is to reappear on 27 July 2022.
The facts before the court suggest that the complainant in the case is a lawyer who resides at Kaneshie, in Accra, while the accused is a businessman and resident of Adabraka.
Sometime in 2019, the accused is said to have approached the complainant and introduced himself as a worker of the Dutch Embassy, and offered to help him secure a vehicle from the Embassy.
The prosecution said the accused person upon such representation demanded and collected cash of GH₵ 32,000.00 from the complainant under the pretext of buying a Land Rover Jeep vehicle for him from the embassy in a period of one week.
Per the facts, the accused person after collecting the money failed to deliver on his promise or return the money. He rather went into hiding.
Luck, however, eluded him when the complainant chanced on him, arrested and handed him over to the police on 13 July 2022.
