An Accra High Court in Accra has ordered the confiscation to the state of the property of Nayele Ametefe, the convicted drug courier, serving eight years, eight months jail sentence in the United Kingdom.
The assets including the Night Angels Enterprise on the Dzorwulu Motorway Extension in Accra, where electrical appliances are sold.
Six different bank accounts of the convict with the Fidelity Bank have also been confiscated.
The Deputy Executive Secretary of the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB), in charge of Enforcement and Control, Mr. Richard Nii Lante Blankson, who disclosed these to The Ghanaian Times, in Accra on Friday said, his outfit was taking steps to serve Ametefe (also known as Ruby Adu-Gyamfi and Irene Tawiah) with the court ruling.
He said, however that some people were claiming ownership of some of the buildings at Pease, Kuntunase in the Ashanti Region, East Legon and Dzorwulu.
Mr. Blankson indicated that lawyers of the people have presented some documents indicating that they owned the buildings, which, they said, were rented by the convict.
He disclosed that Nayele’s mother, through her lawyer, was also contesting that the house at East Legon, belonged to her and not her daughter.
Mr. Blankson said the court ordered the Fidelity Bank to release the amounts in the bank accounts, with the accrued interest, to NACOB so that it could enforce the court’s orders as to the utilization of the monies.
The case, which was heard in Accra on Wednesday, by the Financial Division One of the High Court, presided over by Justice Georgina Mensah-Datsa, asked Nayele’s mother to appear before the court on April 27, to defend her position with the relevant documents.
The court, Mr. Blanson stated, considered the submissions made and was satisfied that the NACOB had made a case to warrant the confiscation of the property belonging to Nayele.
The court, he indicated, heard the motion by NACOB and the Economic and Organised Crime Organisation, and based on that, ordered the items in or the contents of the Night Angels Enterprise or the Enterprise itself, or any property belonging to the said Enterprise, and the monies in the said listed bank accounts with accrued interest, be confiscated in accordance with Section 66 of Act 804.
Quoting the judge, Georgina Mensah-Datsa, Mr. Blankson said “it is a fact that the respondent has been convicted and is currently serving her prison sentence for narcotics-related offence. I am satisfied that the property stated herein were derived from the proceeds of crime.
“In the circumstances, I hereby grant the application for confiscation and confiscate all the listed property herein belonging to the respondent to the state”, she said.
The court, Mr. Blankson said, ordered that in accordance with Section 66 of Act 804, dealing with the utilization of proceeds of realizable property, 20 percent of the total amount should be paid to the Registrar of the Financial and Economic Crime Court.
He said 20 percent of the total amount should be paid to the first (1st) applicant, EOCO to defray the expenses of the said office.
Mr. Blankson said 50 percent of the total amount would be paid to the institution of relevance, NACOB, and 10 percent of the total amount should be paid into the Consolidated Fund.
Ametefe was arrested on November 10, 2014, at the Heathrow Airport, in the United Kingdom, by officers of the UK Border Force, with 12.5 kg of cocaine worth $5 million in her hand luggage.
The Ghanaian/Austrain traveller, a.k.a Ruby Adu-Gyamfi, arrived at the Heathrow Airport from the Kotoka International Airport, Accra, when she was arrested.
After the arrest, she was put before the Uxbridge Magistrate’s Court on November 11 and charged with drug trafficking, and was subsequently remanded in police custody to reappear on November 27, 2014.
Ametefe was arraigned before the Crown Court at Isleworth in London, presided over by His Honour, Judge Martin Edmunds QC, in Case Ref: T20141080 and pleaded guilty and upon her own plea, was convicted and sentenced to a term of eight years and eight months imprisonment with hard labour.
Investigations revealed that she travelled to Europe, particularly the United Kingdom, frequently, the last one being her seventh that year.
Source: The Ghanaian Times
