Trader granted GH¢150,000 bail over cooking oil fraud
Amoako, who is currently unemployed and resides in Teiman, has been charged with defrauding by false pretences.
A 36-year-old man, Samuel Owusu Amoako, has been hauled before an Accra Circuit Court for allegedly swindling a self-employed individual out of GH¢242,500 under the pretext of supplying 500 gallons of cooking oil.
Amoako, who is currently unemployed and resides in Teiman, has been charged with defrauding by false pretences. He pleaded not guilty before Judge Samuel Bright Acquah, who granted him bail set at GH¢150,000 with three sureties.
The prosecution told the court that Amoako had refunded GH¢50,000, which was handed over to the complainant, Cornelius Kusi Amoako, a Baatsona resident. The court adjourned proceedings to June 2, 2025.
The case dates back to June 14, 2024, when the accused reportedly received GH¢242,500 through a Fidelity Bank account registered in the name of J.S.B Logistics Limited. The money was intended for the supply of 500 gallons of cooking oil, each priced at GH¢485, to be delivered to Dormaa-Ahenkro in the Bono Region.
However, according to the prosecution, Amoako failed to deliver the goods and subsequently went into hiding. Attempts by the complainant to trace him proved unsuccessful.
At one point, the accused directed the complainant to retrieve the oil from a man identified only as Ali in Dormaa-Ahenkro. But upon arrival, the complainant discovered that no such consignment existed.
Frustrated, the complainant lodged a report with the Baatsona Police on March 27, 2025.
A breakthrough came on April 20, 2025, when Amoako was arrested in Sampa in the Bono East Region for an unrelated but similar offence. With support from local law enforcement, he was transported to Accra for further investigation.
During police interrogation, Amoako allegedly confessed to the offence in a caution statement, given in the presence of an independent witness.
