An Accra Circuit Court has admitted a self- proclaimed phone trader to bail in the amount of GH10,000 with two sureties after allegations that he sold packed broken tiles as phones.
The culprit by name Mustapha Hamidu has been charged with two counts of attempting to commit crime and defrauding by false pretence.
He has pleaded not guilty to the charges at the court presided over by Kwabena Kodua Obiri-Yeboah.
According to the evidence presented in court by the Prosecutor, Chief Inspector Samuel Ahiabor, Abulley, who resides in Odorkor, routinely defrauded unwary victims by showing them purportedly authentic phones that he offers for sale.
He ends up changing the actual phones to phone cases packaged with pieces of broken tiles after agreeing to specific prices through bargaining.
The prosecutor said that victims who purchased the phones only realized they were actually just decorated phone covers stacked with broken tiles fragments once they got home.
“Police on December 22, 2022, met the accused at a place along a section of the Achimota overpass close to the old station with an original Tecno Camon 19 cellular phone in a phone cover, and two similar phone covers all packaged with broken tiles in his usual business, attempting to lure some victims to express interest in his business,” the prosecutor said.
According to Chief Inspector Ahiabor, by introducing customers to his business, the accused would eventually force them to part with cash ranging from GH500 to GH1,000 in exchange for his packaged broken tiles.
He also stated that a search of him revealed the fraudulent packages, prompting his immediate arrest to assist police investigations.
“Accused was, therefore, arraigned before this court, while efforts are underway to apprehend his accomplice currently at large,” Chief Inspector Ahiabor said.
