Two individuals involved in the theft of 1,146 bags of rice valued at GH₵846,000.00 have been sentenced to prison terms by the Tema Circuit Court.Abdul Karim Abdul Aziz, a 36-year-old driver, was sentenced to five years each for the two counts of conspiracy to commit a crime and stealing. Ibrahim Mohammed, a 49-year-old transport agent, received a 12-year jail sentence each with hard labour for the same offences.

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The sentences will run concurrently.The court, presided over by Klorkor Okai Mills, issued the sentences after the accused persons were found guilty following a trial in which they pleaded not guilty.Chief Inspector Jacob Maalo Kuubal, prosecuting, stated that the complainant, Mr. Emmanuel Quaye Nartey, is a clearing agent, while Aziz is a driver, and Mohammed alias Baba Alhassan is a transport agent.

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According to the prosecution, on July 29, 2023, the complainant engaged Aziz to transport two 20-footer containers containing 1,146 bags of master perfumed rice valued at GH₵846,000.00 from MPS Tema to be delivered at the Trade Pass Commodities warehouse near the slaughterhouse in Tema.

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Prosecution further added that, Aziz, on his way to the warehouse, met Mohammed opposite the 20 bus stop, where they conspired to dishonestly appropriate the rice.An accomplice, Abdul Rahman Suleman, is currently on the run.Further police investigation revealed that Aziz and Mohammed sent the containers of rice to Prampram, where they were offloaded and sold.

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Mohammed took Aziz to the residence of one Eric Kojo Asiedu, a witness in the case, where Aziz passed two nights, while they looked for buyers.Mohammed hired loading boys, including the witness, to offload the 1,146 bags of rice from the containers, and the witness was paid an amount of GH₵200.00 for his services.Aziz received an initial amount of GH₵10,000.

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00 as part of his share of the proceeds and absconded to Tamale, where he met his accomplice, Abdul Rahman Sulemana.While in Tamale, Aziz received an additional GH₵100,000.00 from Mohammed through Abdul Rahman Sulemana’s mobile money account as final payment for the sale of the rice.Aziz then gave GH₵89,000.00 out of the money received to Sulemana to use in preparing travel documents for him to travel to Saudi Arabia.

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Further police investigation revealed that Aziz abandoned the truck at Tema Community Nine, near Flight Hotel, left the ignition key in the ignition node, and travelled to Tamale, adding that on November 20, 2023, intelligence led to his arrest from his hideout at Wassa Akropong in the Western Region.During the investigation, Aziz mentioned that he agreed with Mohammed and Sulemana to divert and sell the rice.

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Witnesses in the case were arrested, and after investigations, the accused persons were charged with the offences and arraigned.

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