Man grabbed for possessing 656 ATM cards granted bail

The Criminal Court 5 Division of the High Court has granted bail to Bachir Musa Aminou; the man who was nabbed with 656 Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards in his possession.

His bail sum stands at GHS 200,000 with two sureties who must be Ghanaian citizens and domiciled in Ghana.

Each of the sureties must also demonstrate that he/she is on a net monthly salary of not less than GHS 3,000

Additionally, the Court also ordered the seizure and depositing of the accused person's passport at the Court Registry until a final determination of the matter.

He must also report weekly (on Mondays) to the National Investigations Bureau till the outcome of the case.

Presiding, Her Ladyship, Lydia Osei Marfo, said the Court would Ordinarily be slow to granting bail to accused persons who are foreign nationals and with no demonstration of sufficient ties within the jurisdiction.

However, Her Ladyship said she was obliged to grant the bail application given the time between which the accused person was arrested and now, and the fact that the Prosecution seems to have no clue when their investigations will conclude.

The Prosecution, since the arrest of Bachir Musa Aminou has consistently prayed the Court for adjournments to enable investigators to conclude their work.

In Court on Monday, an Assistant State Attorney, Amanda Awade, said that the Republic was scheduled to brief the Court on how far the investigation had gone.

However, the State Attorney said she contacted the investigator in charge and was informed that the investigators were yet to receive responses to letters they had sent to the various banks in which ATM cards were found, as well as the Bank of Ghana.

In the circumstance, Amanda Awade told the Court that there was no new information with regard to developments on the matter.

Under the Circumstance, Her Ladyship, Lydia Osei Marfo, observed that “there had been long time enough that the Court expected the investigators to conclude their investigations.

Her Ladyship observed that although the Prosecution had prayed for extension of time on various dates and the same had been granted, the Prosecution “still has not provided any tangible results of their investigations against the accused.”

The case has been adjourned to March 23, 2022.