Ruby Cocaine Scandal…6 Suspects Freed

Alhaji Dawood and Nana Akua Amponsah
An Accra Circuit Court yesterday granted bail to the six persons standing trial over the exportation of 12.5kg of cocaine to the United Kingdom (UK) by Nayele Ametefeh aka Ruby Adu-Gyamfi.

This follows a repetition yesterday of the application for bail by counsel for the six suspects on Monday when none of the State Attorneys in the case showed up when the case was due for hearing.

The suspects, Abiel Ashitey Armah, Foreign Service Officer in charge of the VVIP Lounge at KIA; Ahmed Abubakar, Protocol Officer; and Theophilius Kissi, a Civil Servant, have all been charged with aiding Ruby to smuggle 12.5kg of cocaine valued at over $5 million to the UK. Also in the dock were Sadala Nuhu and Nana Akua Amponsah, both businesswomen who the prosecution said had travelled with Ruby but managed to escape from London back to Accra the same day; and Alhaji Dawood Mohammed, a businessman, who was said to have facilitated the use of the VVIP by the three ladies.

Sadala Nuhu and Akua Amponsah, said to be accomplices of Ruby Adu-Gyamfi, have been charged at the court for aiding and abetting the drug baroness who used the highly restricted VVIP section of the Kotoka International Airport in Accra to board a BA078 flight to London per the prosecution's own facts.

Ruby Adu-Gyamfi is currently incarcerated in Her Majesty's Bronzefield prison in the UK after pleading guilty on the first day of court proceedings and is due for sentencing on January 5, 2015 at the Isleworth Crown Court.

The court, presided over by Francis Obiri, had on December 12 denied bail to the accused persons who were being held at the instance of the prosecution.

The prosecution had argued that granting the accused persons bail had the potential of interfering with investigations into the case.

Excuses
At the trial yesterday, a Chief State Attorney, Penelope Mamattah, told the court that she could not attend the previous Monday's proceedings because she was stuck in traffic.

Interestingly, what she failed to tell the court was whether all the other State Attorneys who could have represented her were also stuck in traffic elsewhere in the city.

Ruling     
In his ruling, Mr Obiri stated that his decision on whether or not to grant bail has became necessary in respect of the bail application filed by the defence counsel of the accused persons on December 22.

He was emphatic that since the State Attorneys absented themselves even though they knew the date for the hearing (on Monday), they had waived their right to be heard.

The trial judge accordingly granted the accused persons bail saying, 'I will hearken to the prayer of the defence counsel.'

Bail Conditions
All the six suspects were granted bail in the sum of GH¢100,000 each with three sureties, one to be justified.

Also, they are each to provide one public servant earning not less than GH¢1,000 a month.

As part of the bail conditions, the accused persons are to report to the investigator handling the case once a month between the hours of 1:00pm and 4:00pm.

Frank Davies, counsel for Abiel Ashitey Armah, prayed the court to reduce the number of sureties, which the court declined.

Counsel Vincent Aikins and ACP K.K. Amoah (rtd), appearing for Theophilius Kissi, prayed the court to do something about the civil servant bit of the bail conditions, indicating that it was difficult to get.

They said if nothing was done about it, their clients might have to celebrate the holidays in cells.

AG Reacts
Ms Mamattah disagreed, insisting that the lawyers for the accused persons ought to be grateful to the court for granting their clients bail rather than asking the court to soften the conditions.

The case was adjourned to January 7, 2015
By Jeffrey De-Graft Johnson
Email: [email protected]