28-year-old banker in court over alleged GH¢1m theft

The 28-year-old banker is alleged to have reactivated a dormant customer account and subsequently used it as a transit account to transfer funds to several accounts held at different banks.

The alleged transactions are said to have occurred between March and September 2025.

Noi has been charged with stealing, a charge to which he has pleaded not guilty.

The case was presided over by Mrs Angela Attachie, who granted the accused bail in the sum of GH¢1 million.

The court further directed that Noi should provide two sureties, both of whom are required to justify the bail with landed property.

During the proceedings, defence counsel prayed the court to grant the accused bail, arguing that he was not a flight risk and had strong ties to the jurisdiction.

Counsel told the court that Noi is a resident of Dodowa in the Greater Accra Region and was therefore unlikely to abscond if granted bail.

The court subsequently granted the bail application subject to the conditions imposed.

Presenting the facts before the court, Chief Inspector Maxwell Lanyo said the complainant in the case is the Head of Audit and Inspection at ARB Apex Bank PLC, while Noi was serving as the Branch Manager of the Oyibi Area Community Bank PLC at the time of the alleged offence.

According to the prosecution, the matter came to light following an audit and inspection exercise conducted at the Oyibi branch.

Chief Inspector Lanyo told the court that on September 28, 2026, the complainant, together with a team of auditors, visited the branch to conduct an audit after intelligence had been received suggesting that fraudulent transactions were taking place at the facility.

The audit team subsequently began examining transactions and financial activities at the branch as part of efforts to establish whether the intelligence they had received was credible.

During the exercise, the auditors allegedly detected a transfer involving GH¢1 million from an internal account of the bank into another account maintained at the same bank.

The account, identified as account number 3061110010021221, was reportedly held in the name of Nii Adjei Sowatey.

The discovery immediately raised concerns among the auditors, who suspected that the transaction could be connected to the alleged fraudulent activities under investigation.

The prosecution said the audit team promptly brought the transaction to the attention of the ARB Apex Bank’s head office.

Following the report, management of the bank directed the complainant to lodge an official complaint with the police to facilitate a formal investigation into the circumstances surrounding the transfer.

The police subsequently commenced investigations into the transaction and the activities of persons believed to have been involved.

Noi was later arrested and questioned by investigators over the alleged movement of the funds.

However, according to the prosecution, the accused failed to provide a satisfactory explanation for the transfer of the GH¢1 million during police interrogation.

Chief Inspector Lanyo told the court that investigations had so far established that the account into which the GH¢1 million was transferred had previously been dormant.

The prosecution alleged that Noi reactivated the dormant account without the consent or authorisation of the account holder.

The account was then allegedly used as a transit account through which the funds were channelled to various accounts held at other financial institutions.