A relationship manager at a private bank in Accra has been granted bail after pleading not guilty to charges of stealing GH¢12 million from a businessman whose accounts he managed.
Christopher Arthur, the accused relationship manager, appeared before the Circuit Court presided over by His Honour Eyram Fumey on Thursday, where he denied the single count of stealing.
The court granted him bail in the sum of GH¢12 million with four sureties, three of whom must be justified. The bail application, filed by defence counsel Samuel Laryea, was not opposed by prosecution led by Chief Inspector Jonas Larwer.
The case has been adjourned to May 26 for a Case Management Conference, with the court directing the prosecution to file disclosures ahead of that date.
Prosecution’s Facts
Presenting the facts, Chief Inspector Larwer told the court that the complainant, a businessman, opened three accounts at the Haatso branch of the bank in 2023. The accounts were assigned to the accused for management on behalf of the complainant’s company.
In January 2026, the complainant detected irregularities 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 presented an internally generated bank statement to the complainant, which was later discovered to be forged. He subsequently 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 Arthur’s arrest.
Investigation Findings
During investigations, the accused allegedly admitted to the offence and disclosed 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, through which hundreds of thousands of cedis were allegedly siphoned.
A Toyota Corolla, a Hyundai Elantra and an Apple laptop – believed to have been acquired with proceeds of the crime – have been retrieved. Police also recovered GH¢481,800 in cash.
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 additional court orders to access further account records and to arrest other suspects believed to be involved. The case remains under investigation.
