A staff member of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) standing trial in a $500,000 stolen tugboat case has been granted bail by a Tema High Court.

Prince Edwin Brem, through his lawyer, filed a bail application on January 19, 2026, which was granted by the court.

The High Court admitted him to bail in the sum of GHC500,000 with three sureties and ordered him to report to the Police every Friday, the Ghana News Agency has gathered.

At the Adenta Circuit Court on Thursday, where the substantive case was heard, the matter was adjourned to April 8, 2026, for a Case Management Conference.

Brem, 47, has been charged with defrauding by false pretences and forgery of stamps. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Presenting the facts, Chief Inspector Maxwell Lanyo told the court that the complainant, Mr Kofi Kuwada, a resident of Afloa in the Volta Region, is the owner of the tugboat, MV Ebenezer, while the accused resided at Tema Community Two.

The prosecution said on September 1, 2025, at about 0840 hours, Mr Kuwada reported to the Tema Fishing Harbour Police Station that Brem had allegedly presented himself on November 14, 2024, as a director of Clearsail Shipping International Management Limited and entered into a ship charter agreement with him.

Brem chartered the tugboat, valued at $500,000, for a three-month period, which expired on February 24, 2025, but failed to return the vessel, prosecution said.

The court heard that Brem signed the agreement and stamped it with what he claimed was the official company stamp, thereby creating the impression that he had lawful authority to act on behalf of the company.

Prosecution said all efforts by the complainant to retrieve the tugboat proved futile, leading to a formal complaint to the Police.

Police investigations led to the engagement of Mr Boniface Acheampong, a director of Clearsail Shipping International Management Limited, who stated that neither he nor the other director had authorised Brem to sign the agreement.

Mr Acheampong further indicated that the stamp used by Brem was neither sanctioned nor recognised by the company.

On September 5, 2025, Brem reported to the Tema Police, where he was arrested.

During investigations, he admitted chartering the tugboat and promised to return it but failed to do so.

Police intelligence later revealed that the tugboat was in Guinea-Bissau.

While arrangements were being made for its return to Ghana, Brem allegedly ordered the vessel, without the consent of the complainant and contrary to police directives, to sail to The Gambia and subsequently to North American waters.

The prosecution told the court that “it has become clear that the accused has no intention of returning the boat to the owner.”