A 30-year-old banker who is standing trial at the Tarkwa Circuit Court for dishonestly appropriating money belonging to a customer of a bank, has appeared before the same court on a similar charge.

The accused person, Edmond Nashiru, pleaded not guilty to the offence and was remanded into custody.

On the new case, Chief Inspector Joseph Lartey, prosecuting, told the court presided over by Mrs Hathia Ama Manu that the complainant, Felicity Acqua, is a rotational nurse resident at New Atuabo.

She holds a savings account at the bank’s Tarkwa branch, while Edmond is a front desk officer at the bank.

On November 6, 2023, the Tarkwa Police received a complaint from Felicity that she received a series of mobile alerts on her phone on the same day indicating that her account had been debited with a total amount of GH￠9,781.00 without her consent.

Chief Inspector Lartey said Felicity went to Edmond at the banking hall for clarification, but he only told her that fraudsters had stolen her money and she left.

The prosecutor said as part of a police investigation into the complaint on November 16, 2023, they obtained a court order and served management of the bank to provide detailed information on the transaction that led to the said cash stolen from Felicity’s account.

He said the audit department of the bank investigated the theft and presented their report to the police and explained that Edmond was the one behind the theft.

The report further indicated that the accused person used his cell phone to transfer the said money from Felicity’s account to two different MTN numbers.

Chief Inspector Lartey said Edmond was arrested for questioning and revealed to the police that he assisted Felicity in installing a banking application on her mobile phone and in the process obtained her log-in details to the account.

According to the prosecutor, Edmond allegedly tried to cover up the crime by instructing his brother, who is currently on the run, to obtain two Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards to deposit the stolen money onto them.

The court heard that after Edmond and his brother had completed the transaction, they discarded the two SIM cards to ensure they were not apprehended.

The court has adjourned the case to Thursday, December 28, 2023, for continuation.