A relationship manager at a private bank, Christopher Arthur, has been arraigned before a Circuit Court for allegedly stealing GH¢12 million from a businessman whose accounts he managed.

The accused is said to have diverted part of the funds for personal use, including spending about GH¢600,000 on online betting, while allegedly forging bank statements to conceal the transactions. Some assets, including vehicles and cash believed to be proceeds of the crime, have since been retrieved.

Investigations indicate that portions of the misappropriated funds were channelled into sports betting, while efforts are ongoing to apprehend alleged accomplices.

Appearing before His Honour Eyram Fumey on Thursday, the accused pleaded not guilty to the charge of stealing. He was granted bail in the sum of GH¢12 million with four sureties, three of whom must be justified.

The bail was granted after his lawyers, led by Samuel Laryea, applied for it, with the prosecution, led by Chief Inspector Jonas Larwer, not opposing the request. The court further directed the prosecution to file disclosures ahead of the next adjourned date, with the case scheduled for a Case Management Conference on May 26.

Presenting the facts, Chief Inspector Larwer said the complainant, a businessman, opened three accounts at the Haatso branch of the bank in 2023, which were assigned to the accused to manage for his company.

According to the prosecution, the complainant detected irregularities in January 2026 and alerted the accused. Further checks revealed that GH¢12 million had allegedly been misappropriated from the accounts.

On March 8, 2026, the accused reportedly produced an internally generated bank statement to the complainant, which was later found to be forged. Subsequently, he is said to have refunded GH¢94,000 in cash and an additional GH¢1,195,900 on March 12, 2026.

The matter was reported to the police at Baatsonaa on March 25, 2026, leading to the arrest of the accused.

During investigations, the accused allegedly admitted to the offence and indicated that the scheme began in April 2025 with the assistance of accomplices based in Kumasi. The prosecution named them as Gyamfua Obaayaa and Abigail Thelma.

Investigators traced some transactions to accounts held with two other banks (name withheld), through which amounts totalling hundreds of thousands of cedis were allegedly siphoned.

Further probes led to the retrieval of a Toyota Corolla, a Hyundai Elantra and an Apple laptop, believed to have been acquired with proceeds of the crime. An additional GH¢481,800 in cash was also recovered.

The prosecution further disclosed that other accounts in two different banks, were allegedly used to withdraw up to GH¢7.5 million from the complainant’s funds.

Investigations also revealed that GH¢600,000 of the stolen money was spent on sports betting.

Police say efforts are underway to obtain further court orders to access additional account records and to arrest other suspects believed to be involved in the scheme. The case remains under investigation.