Farmer steals pay loader, sells it as scrap

A 54-year-old farmer, Ransford Oparteh, has been arrested by the Amasaman Police for stealing a heavy duty broken-down 'Pay loader' machine, and selling it as scrap.

Also arrested is Fuseini Umar, 26, for dishonestly receiving and buying the stolen pay loader.

The Amasaman District Police Crime Officer, ASP Emmanuel Osei, who briefed the Times about the arrest, said about six months ago, one Kofi Duah from Kumasi brought the pay loader to Oduman, near Amasaman, to work with it.

He said while working with it, the machine broke down so he left it with a caretaker.

ASP Osei said when Duah returned a few weeks later with mechanics to repair the machine, he realised that it had been stolen. He therefore lodged a complaint with the police at Amasaman on July 3.

ASP Osei said that during investigations, the police had a tip-off that the machine was at Umar's yard at Agbogbloshie in Accra.

He said Umar was arrested and the pay loader was retrieved.

Umar said he bought the machine as a scrap from Oparteh at a cost for GH¢900.

He explained to the police that he sent a flatbed vehicle and a forklift o the place in the night to lift the pay loader, before conveying it to Accra.

According to him, Oparteh gave him an official receipt for the purchase but could not give him the documents covering the machine because he claimed he had misplaced them.

ASP Osei said investigations revealed that Oparteh shared the money with an accomplice, named only as Commey.

He said Oparteh and Umar had been granted police enquiry bail, while Commey, and two others, Noah and Akwasi, who acted as errand boys for Oparteh during the transactions, are being pursued by the police.