Tuesday, July 1, 2025 - A 55-year-old Nigerian man convicted of smuggling large sums of fake CFA Francs currency, amounting to over $100,000, into Ghana, will be deported to Nigeria.
The convict, Aremu Timothy Adegboyega, was convicted by an
Accra Circuit Court.
Adegboyega, who was initially on trial after pleading not
guilty, changed his plea to guilty midway through the court proceedings.
He was charged with two counts of possessing forged notes
contrary to Section 18(2) of the Currency Act, 1964 (Act 242) and one count of
illegal entry into Ghana.
The court fined him the equivalent of GH¢3,000 or two
years in prison with hard labour. He was also fined the equivalent of GH¢1,440,
a two-year prison term.
Adegboyega was arrested on January 17, 2023, by Customs
officers stationed at the Aflao border.
He was a pillion passenger on a motorcycle and carrying a
backpack; he drew the suspicion of the officers, who searched his
belongings.
The search uncovered bundles of currency suspected to be
counterfeit: CFA Francs totalling CFA 80,653,000 and Naira totalling
₦101,500.
Further investigations revealed that the accused had
smuggled the forged currency into Ghana from Togo.
During interrogation, he confessed in a caution statement
that he knew the notes were forged.
He claimed he
had received the counterfeit currency from an individual named Alhaji Saibu in
Nigeria, acting on instructions from one Alhaji Dials, allegedly a mafia figure
based in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
The case was
handed over to the Ghana Police Service on January 20, 2023, for further
investigation, which is reportedly ongoing.
Authorities
say the conviction sends a clear message to anyone attempting to undermine
Ghana’s financial and border security systems.
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