The Amasaman police have apprehended a man who is alleged to be part of a gang that sells vehicles to people and later steals them from the owners after payment had been done.
The gangsters, according to the police, install car tracking devices in the cars and monitor where the new owners take them.
They later move to the locations and steal the vehicles at night.
Luck eluded them when one of them was apprehended after they had attempted to steal a sold vehicle from a Kumasi-based pastor in Accra.
The Amasaman District Police Commander, DSP Elvis Bawa Sadongo, briefing DAILY GUIDE, said police received a report from one Lydia Bentum early this month that she had sold her Toyota Highlander to a Kumasi-based pastor (name withheld) for GH¢68,000 but he (pastor) was attempting to outsmart her with the payment.
In her statement Lydia said the pastor called her later and informed her that the vehicle had developed a fault at Bunso Junction near Linda Dor restaurant along the Accra-Kumasi road.
DSP Sadongo said the woman claimed she quickly got a mechanic and went to the pastor but when she got there the fault on the Highlander had been fixed. She therefore, advised the pastor to return to Accra with her for the vehicle to be thoroughly examined.
Together with the pastor and her mechanic, she returned to Accra to make sure that the vehicle was properly fixed before the pastor could leave the following day.
Lydia said her husband advised her to return the money to the pastor since it was not sufficient.
“She decided to return the money to the pastor through one Kweku Adjei, the mechanic who was with the pastor,” according to DSP Sadongo.
She said all efforts to get the vehicle and Adjei proved futile.
DSP Sadongo said upon receiving the information, police arrested the pastor and intercepted the Highlander, which was still not registered.
Upon interrogation, the pastor said he refused to collect the money because at that time he could have been attacked by hoodlums since he was lodging in a hotel; and so Adjei called the woman on phone to inform her and she directed the mechanic to deposit the money into her Ecobank Account.
The pastor said he went with Adjei to deposit the money using the vehicle after it had been fixed.
DSP Sadongo disclosed, “In the course of our investigation, we discovered that Lydia was among a syndicate and wanted to use the police to forcefully collect the vehicle from the pastor.”
Investigations gathered indicated that the suspects used the tracking device fixed on the vehicle to stop it while the pastor was on his way to Kumasi.
“Enquiries at the bank also revealed that part of the money was withdrawn by Lydia Bentum 30 minutes after it had been deposited, while the rest was withdrawn with an ATM card in bits that same evening by her.”
Lydia after the report, according to DSP Sadongo, had since not been seen and checks revealed that she had travelled to London.
The commander said while the matter was still being investigated, a man came to the police station to claim ownership of the Toyota Highlander.
While the man, identified as George Ampedu, was being questioned, the police commander said, he took to his heels but he was given a hot chase and arrested in a bush close to the Amasaman Police Station.
He said Ampedu was found to be a member of the syndicate that had been perpetrating the crime.
He was put before an Accra circuit court, presided over by Justice Atta Sampong, and was granted bail in the sum of GH¢50,000 with two sureties.
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