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July 25, 2023
CIRCUIT COURT
GHANA
CORAM
JUDGMENT
The Accused Person is charged with one count of Robbery contrary to section
149 of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29) and one count of Money
Laundering contrary to section 1(2)(a)(i) of the Anti-Money Laundering Act,
2020 (Act 1044).
The facts as presented by prosecution are that on 12th August, 2022 at about
5:30pm, while the complainant by name Abigail Amanor who is a beautician
was at her saloon, the Accused pulled up in front of the salon in a blue
coloured Hyundai Sonata salon car with registration number GC 9297-21.
According to prosecution, the Accused remained seated in the car and
indicated to complainant that he wanted to do a pedicure. Prosecution says
that complainant requested for the phone number of Accused as she was busy
at the time to call him later. Prosecution says that while he was calling out his
phone number, the Accused suddenly snatched the complainant’s iPhone 13 Pro Max and drove off. According to prosecution, complainant held unto the
phone and car but was unable to keep up with the pace of the car and fell off
with one of the tyres running over her left hand and suffered some
lacerations. Complainant made a report to the police and according to
prosecution on 15th August, 2022 the Accused employed a similar modus
operandi with the same car to snatch a phone from a young man at New
Achimota and was arrested and handed over to Mile 7 Police. Prosecution
says that at the Station complainant identified the Accused as the culprit.
Prosecution says that the Accused admitted the offence and stated that he
sold complainant’s phone at the Kwame Nkrumah circle but could not lead
the police to the buyer. Prosecution says that their investigations revealed that
the Accused rented the car in question under the pretext of attending a
wedding but rather used it to commit the crime. Prosecution says he used the
proceeds to buy household items such as a Hisense table-top fridge, one
Nasco air conditioner, one HP laptop computer, one leather bed, mattress,
one flat screen tv set, one DSTV decoder, one Amcon electric iron and one
Bruhm microwave. Based upon these facts he was charged and arraigned
before this court.
Prosecution called four witnesses in support of its case. PW1 was Abigail
Amanor, PW2 was Amaniwaa Constance, PW3 was D/Inspr Patrick Agyei
Asamoah and PW4 was Priscilla Komsoon.
PW1 testified that she is a beautician who lives at Tantra. According to her, on
12th August, 2022 she was a
AI Generated Summary
At the Amasaman Circuit Court, HER HONOUR ENID MARFUL-SAU tried Bernard Akan Adotey for robbery under Act 29 and money laundering under Act 1044. Prosecution alleged Adotey drove a blue Hyundai Sonata to beautician Abigail Amanor’s salon, requested a pedicure, then snatched her iPhone 13 Pro Max and sped off, injuring her hand; they relied on CCTV footage, rental records from Daniel Botchway and Wisdom Tetteh, and cautioned confessions. Adotey denied involvement, claimed duress, and highlighted that the CCTV car (GC 297-21) differed from the rental car (GC 9297-21). The court found the confessions’ probative value weak, noted identification deficiencies without a parade, and concluded the prosecution had not proven money laundering—GHȼ3,000 proceeds could not plausibly purchase the listed items. The court held reasonable doubt, acquitting Adotey on both counts and ordering return of seized property.