Court orders arrest of car dealer over alleged fraud

An Accra Circuit Court has ordered the arrest of a car dealer, who allegedly took GHS185,000.00 from an electrical engineer under the pretext of selling a Honda CRV 2019 to him but failed.Francis Richard Vanderpuye, who was charged with defrauding by false pretence, failed to appear before Court for his plea to be taken.Prosecution led by Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Emmanuel Nyamekye prayed to the Court for a bench warrant for the arrest of the accused person because 'the accused person after several attempts and warning to appear before Court, has refused.'It, therefore, prayed for a bench warrant to order his appearance before the Court.The Court presided over by Mrs Basilia Adjei-Tawiah, therefore issued a bench warrant for the arrest of the accused person.The facts are that the complainant, Mr Joseph Dela Dedzoe Djokoto, who lives at Gbawe is an electrical engineer while the accused person resides at Kuntunse Satellite, Accra.The Police said in March 2023, the complainant went to the accused person's garage called Bawuley Ventures located at Abelemkpe, to purchase a Honda CRV 2019 model for his wife.It said the accused person pointed to an unregistered Honda CRV 2017 model and priced at GH?250,000.00 which the complainant agreed to buy and made part payment of GH?185,000.00The Police said the complainant later detected that the vehicle was a 2017 model but not a 2019 model and the converter was faulty.It said Police investigation also revealed that the vehicle was given to the accused person by someone to sell and when the part payment was made to him, he failed to give the money to the vehicle owner.The Police said when the owner of the vehicle detected that part payment had been made to the accused person but failed to account for it, he went to the garage and took the vehicle away.It said the complainant reported the matter to the Auto Theft Unit and the accused person was arrested.The Police said in the cautioned statement of the accused person, he admitted the offence and had refunded GH?80,000.00.Source: Ghana News Agency