The Gbetsile Circuit Court in the Kpone Katamanso Municipality of the Greater Accra Region, has remanded Benjamin Akpabla, 51, a carpenter, into custody for knowingly attempting to sell an already sold piece of land in Prampram.
The act is contrary to Section 131(1) of the Criminal Offences Act 29/60.
Akpabla’s appeal for bail was opposed by the Prosecutor, Inspector Maxwell Ayeh because he did not cooperate with the police at the first bail.
The court, presided over by Mrs Eleanor Kakra Banes Botchway, remanded the accused to reappear on December 6, 2023, for a witness statement to be filed.
Prosecution said the complainant, Kofi Yeboah, a mechanic was a resident of Tema Community 4, while Akpabla, alias ‘Opele,’ the accused, was a carpenter residing at Prampram.
In 2019, Akpabla told the complainant that he had two plots of land, situated at Prampram, which he wanted to sell at the cost of GH₵40,000.00.
Based on that, Yeboah initially paid GH₵27,000.00 to the accused and later paid GH₵13,000.00 to him for the land document.
Afterward, all efforts to get the land document from the accused proved futile, hence Yeboah confronted the family, who indicated that the land in question had already been sold.
On May 21, 2023, Yeboah made a formal report to the police, and the accused was arrested.
An investigation revealed that at the time the accused purportedly sold the land to the complainant, he knew that the land had already been sold by his family.
Inspector Ayeh said although the accused refunded GH₵15,000.00 to the police, he was later charged after the investigations.
