An Accra Circuit Court has given GHC6 million bail with three sureties to Stephen Arthur for allegedly attempted to swindle Fidelity Bank Limited of GHC2,100,000.00 belonging to customers of the bank.
One of the guarantors , the court ordered , ought to have ownership with landed property.
Three of his accomplices: Nicholas Gyekye, Ahmed Ansah and Daniel Kodzi, were conceded GHC5 million bail each with three sureties to be supported with a landed property.
They have denied plotting to swindle and to steal the money.
Furthermore, Arthur, Ansah, Gyekye and Kodzi are facing the charge of taking part in a coordinated criminal organization, which they have likewise denied.
They will re appear before the court in a month’s time.
Prosecuting , Mr Leo Anthony Siamah told the Court presided over by Mrs Ellen Offei Ayeh that on January 24, 2022, the EOCO Office got knowledge from a staff of Fidelity Bank that a few people were asking him for client details to execute the robbery .
He said the source was told by the Fidelity Bank the board to liaise with the suspects to comprehend what they needed and expected to do same.
According to the Prosecutor Gyekye was reached by Arthur demanding help from him in order to get a Fidelity Bank staff who wad ready to give bank account details so as to pull out money from the accounts.
It expressed the following day the bank staff was reached by Gyekye on WhatsApp and call where Gyekye requested that the staff get him telephone numbers and bank account details of clients with fat accounts.
The prosecutor said the bank staff met Arthur and Gyekye at the Accra Mall on March 17, 2022, to investigate the business as usual where Gyekye referenced that he had contacted people in MTN who could help to clone any telephone number that the informant brought to him.
It said Gyekye additionally referenced that his companion, one Destiny, had a sweetheart who had been cloning sim cards for one more organization engaged with a similar extortion plot.
The Court heard that Arthur and Gyekye connived with the bank staff that he would furnish three telephone numbers with tremendous assets in their ledger.
The Prosecutor said on March 28, 2022, the informant gave the accused persons three telephone numbers 059966257,0256586172,0551107747 having a place with Ransford Nana Addo, Ama Ofosu-Kusi Addo and Jessica Eshun Ababio respectively to clone.
It said Ansah gave the telephone numbers to Kodzi to clone, accordingly Arthur, Gyekye, Ansah and Kodzi planned to take GH¢ 850,000, GH¢ 680,000, GHC 570,000 respectively from the accounts.
The Prosecutor said on Thursday March 31, 2022, Gyekye sent the witness a WhatsApp message that they had the option to clone the sim cards through the assistance of Ansah and Kodzi.
He said Arthur and Gyekye consented to meet the staff on April 4, 2022, to set up portable application with the clone sim cards to pull out the monies.
The Prosecutor said while setting up at the Achimota Mall, the guys were arrested by the Economic and Organized Crime Officers.