The four officials of the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) who allegedly collected a GH¢2,000 (¢20 million) bribe from an importer were on Thursday arraigned before the Greater Accra Regional Tribunal and granted bail. The four, Alphonse Quainoo, Collector; Cornelius Amekudzi, Emmanuel Hammond and Samuel Tei Nyakotey, all Assistant Collectors - were each granted bail in the sum of GH¢10,000 (¢100 million) with a surety each. They pleaded not guilty to the charges of conspiracy and extortion and are expected to reappear on Wednesday, October 25, 2007. They are to report themselves to the police every Wednesday. The tribunal granted bail to the accused persons after their lead counsel, Mr Ellis Owusu-Fordjour, had prayed the court to grant them bail. According to counsel, the charges levelled against the accused persons were flawed because there was no complainant or victim in the case. He said the facts indicated that the arrest of the accused persons was the result of a baiting exercise, adding that there was no basis for the prosecution of his clients. Mr Owusu-Fordjour, accordingly, prayed the tribunal to grant the accused persons bail, since they would comply with bail conditions, as well as avail themselves for trial. Replying to the submissions by the defence team, an Assistant Superintendent of Police, Mr. George Abavelim, said the prosecution had ample evidence to prove that the accused persons were guilty of the charges levelled against them. Presenting the facts of the case, Mr Abavelim informed the tribunal that following complaints from importers and traders that CEPS officials often extorted money from them, before valuing their goods, the security apparatus decided to monitor events at the Tema Port. The prosecution said after studying the trend for some time, security officials became convinced of the allegations and decided to strike at the appropriate time. It said some officials of a security agency were on their rounds at the Car Park at the Tema Port on Wednesday when an importer handed over the money to the CEPS officials. It said the accused persons stashed the money, whose serial numbers had already been taken by the security officials, in their drawers, resulting in their subsequent arrest. According to the prosecution the GH¢2,000 (¢20 million) retrieved from the accused persons bore the same serial numbers as the notes which had earlier been marked by the security officials. The prosecution further stated that Amekudzi said the GH¢587 retrieved from his drawer was money that had been given to him as tips by traders. It said when the security officials conducted a search in the drawers, various amounts of money were found. According to the prosecution, the suspects allegedly said the money constituted tips from clients. Source: Daily Graphic