Operations officer remanded in custody for alleged theft granted by court

An Accra circuit court admitted Patrick Ato Botchwey, the operations manager of Hans Nef Cocoa Limited, to a bond of GH ¢ 500,000.00 with three bonds.

Mr. Botchwey initially pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The court, chaired by Mr. Samuel Bright Acquah, said that the sureties must all be civil servants, who earned no less than GH ¢ 1,500.00 per month.

The court further ordered the accused to report to Nima police station once a week and adjourned the case until February 9.

The complainant in this case is Mr. Augustine Opoku Yeboah, Director of Hans Nef Cocoa Limited.

On July 20, 2019, Chief Police Inspector William Kwadwo Boateng said that Botchwey was hired as an operations officer, where he was given an amount of GH ¢ 1,107,250 to purchase 2,150 bags of cocoa beans. for the society.

He said that the accused, after collecting the money, used GH ¢ 727,605.00 to purchase 1,413 bags of cocoa beans for the company.

An audit of the accused’s accounts with the company revealed that the accused pocketed GH ¢ 486,420.00 for his personal use.

The prosecution said that when Mr. Yeboah confronted Mr. Botchwey about the money, the accused could not give any tangible explanation.

He said the accused secretly removed the construction documents (collateral) from his personal file, which was used as collateral at the time of his engagement with the company, from the manager’s office.

The Prosecution added that Mr. Botchwey then abandoned his post with the Company and went into hiding in Kumasi.

The prosecution said that a complaint had been filed and that he had been arrested.

The accused in his warning admitted the offense.

—GNA