Nigerian convicted in Ghana for smuggling 80m fake CFA francs to be deported

A Ghanaian courtroom has ordered the deportation of a 56-year-outdated Nigerian, Aremu Timothy Adegboyega, after convicting him of smuggling faux CFA francs price over $100,000 into the country thru an unlawful border crossing.

The ruling was delivered by Justice Christiana Cann of the Circuit Court docket in Accra, who directed the Ghana Immigration Provider to operate the deportation without delay following the conviction.

Adegboyega was arrested in 2023 at Beat Zero, an unapproved entry level conclude to the Aflao border, while driving as a passenger on a bike. Customs officers who conducted a search discovered gigantic bundles of currency suspected to be false—CFA francs totalling over CFA 80 million and Nigerian naira amounting to N101,500.

In response to ASP Isaac Anquandah, the suspect admitted to knowingly transporting faux currency and claimed he bought the solid notes from a particular person named Alhaji Saibu in Nigeria. He acknowledged he was performing below instructions from a figure identified as Alhaji Dials, believed to be essentially based mostly in Côte d’Ivoire.

The police also confirmed that Adegboyega had entered Ghana with faux currency on a previous occasion. On this outing, he acknowledged he was supposed to divulge the money to a contact in Abobo, Ivory Flee.

The courtroom discovered him guilty on two counts of possessing forged notes, violating Ghana’s Currency Act of 1964, and one depend of unlawful entry. For the currency offense, he was fined 250 penalty devices (GH¢3,000) or, in default, a two-year penitentiary sentence without a longer easy labour. For unlawful entry, he was fined a further 120 penalty devices (GH¢1,440), with a extra two-year sentence in default.

The courtroom ruled that the sentences would crawl similtaneously, meaning a maximum of two years if the fines live unpaid.

Authorities acknowledged the faux money would be despatched to the Bank of Ghana for verification.

The Ghana Earnings Authority also confirmed that the seized CFA notes had identical serial numbers, deepening suspicions about their authenticity.