An amount of 80 million CFA worth GHc1.5 million found to be fake has been intercepted by the Customs division of the Ghana Revenue Authority(GRA) at an unknown route along the Ghana-Togo border at Aflao.
The briefcase containing the money, according to the Ag. Commissioner of Customs, Seidu Iddrisu Iddisah said the briefcase also contained some real money of 843,000 CFA and 110,500 Naira.
According to Commissioner Iddisah, two of the culprits were stopped by the Customs when they were heading towards the unidentified route known for only indigenes residing in that part of Aflao on a motorcycle.
“He is a 57-year old man and his name is Arimo Timothy Adigbo, with a Nigerian passport in his possession,” the customs Chief identified as the one holding the briefcase.
The incident took place on Tuesday, January 17, 2023, at Aflao and has been handed over to the Customs Investigation department for further investigations.
“Upon receiving the news, I ordered that the suspect be brought to Accra to enable us to carry out a detailed investigation into the matter,” Iddisah said.
“The understanding is that the suspects were arrested in Ghana’s territory and not in Togolese territory. The crime was carried out in Ghana, and that informed our decision to pursue the case at the Customs headquarters. If we have to contact Nigerian Customs during the investigation, we will do that. We have that collaboration in place,” he disclosed.
He also said the culprits could have changed the money to real currencies upon their arrival in the country, leaving behind the fake currencies in both Ghana and Togo.
“The first law in breach is lack of declaring of goods per the laws of Customs, and the fact that the suspect was plying an unapproved route with such contents in the briefcase are all criminal,” Commissioner Iddisah said implying it was not just leading to losing foreign exchange but was also a criminal act.
