The former GREDA boss, Dr Alexander Kofi Tweneboah, now faces charges of providing electronic communication service without licence; possessing illegal device; and knowingly, obstructing and interfering with sending, transmission, delivery and reception of communication.
This follows the State’s substitution of the facts of the case at the Financial Division of the Fast Track High Court, on Monday.
Initially, the State charged the accused person for SIM BOX fraud, a charge he denied knowledge of.
Mrs Stella Ohene Appiah, a State Attorney, told the court that on January 15, that a joint anti-fraud taskforce of the National Communication Authority, Ghana Police Service and the Telecommunication operators embarked on an operation to the accused person’s house.
She said a search in one of the rooms used as an office led to the retrieval of one SIM BOX equipment, internet modems, antenna and large quantities of SIM cards of various telecom Service Providers.
She said the caretaker of the house mentioned the accused person as the owner of the house and also the one who used that particular office.
The State Attorney said the accused person, when arrested admitted ownership of the equipment and told the Police that he was introduced into the SIM BOX business, when his businesses started going bad due to the economic situation in the country.
She said even though the accused person claimed to have been in the SIM BOX business for about two months, investigations revealed that his illegal activity had been in operation for not less than six months.
“The total revenue loss to the state and the service providers over the period amount to $ 919, 296,” she said
Meanwhile, the State has presented Theophilus Botchway, Fraud Prevention Manager, Vodafone Ghana, as its first prosecution witness and has since ended its evidence in chief.
The defence counsel for the accused person has commenced its cross-examination of the witness.
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