National service person allegedly steals GH¢303k from customer’s account

A 25-year-old national service person, Jesper Kobina Mensah, has been hauled before the Circuit Court in Accra for allegedly stealing GH¢303,950 through unauthorised electronic transfers from a Stanbic Bank Ghana Ltd. customer.

The case, which is being presided over by Her Honour Sedinam Awo Kwadam, saw the accused formally charged with one count of stealing, contrary to Section 124(1) of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29), as amended by Paragraph 4 of NLCD 398, and Section 107 of the Electronic Transaction Act, 2008 (Act 772).

Jesper Kobina Mensah pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Following arguments in court, the judge denied the accused person’s application for bail and remanded him into police custody.

The case is being prosecuted by DSP Emmanuel Nyamekye, who requested more time.

According to the brief facts presented in court, the complaint was filed by Stanbic Bank Ghana Ltd and represented by its Manager of Investigations, Ms. Genevieve AmaGadikor.

The report stems from an incident on July 15, 2025, when a customer of the bank, name withheld, a Ghanaian residing in South Africa, reported unauthorised electronic transfers from his bank account, totalling GH¢303,950.

The stolen funds were allegedly transferred to various MTN Mobile Money accounts with the following details: 0598633019 (Name: Abraham Asiedu), 0544116186 (Name: Stephen Eshun) and 0597564947 (Name: Fatau Sulley).

Further investigations led to the arrest of Fatau Sulley on July 28, 2025.

Sulley, identified as a Binance merchant who trades in the cryptocurrency USDT, admitted during interrogation that he had received funds via Mobile Money for cryptocurrency transactions on the Binance platform but claimed he only served as a middleman.

On August 28, 2025, police intelligence led to the arrest of Jesper Kobina Mensah at his hideout at Nungua, a suburb of Accra.

A search of his premises revealed a trove of electronic and telecommunication equipment, including nine mobile phones, two laptops, 108 registered Telecel SIM cards, 27 empty Telecel SIM starter packs, 72 registered MTN SIM cards, 88 empty MTN SIM starter packs, and other assorted items linked to digital fraud.

In his caution statement to the police, Mensah admitted to being the user of the two key mobile numbers involved in the transactions and acknowledged receipt of the funds.

However, he claimed that he had acted on behalf of unidentified Chinese nationals, who directed him to convert the money into USDT (a stablecoin) and forward it via the Binance platform.

The case investigator, Detective Sergeant James Kwesi Turkson, confirmed that investigations are still ongoing, particularly in tracking down the supposed international accomplices.

Mensah is expected to reappear in court on a date yet to be announced as the prosecution continues to build its case.

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