The Dansoman Circuit Court has remanded in police custody two persons for unlawfully accessing electronic records of the Drivers, Vehicle and Licensing Authority (DVLA) on its online portal.
Delali Yevu, a 42-year-old software developer, and Sabastian Donne, a 32-year-old heavy-duty machine operator, were arrested for charging some drivers GH¢200 each to authenticate their driver’s licences instead of the approved GH¢471 set by the authority.
The two are facing charges of various counts of conspiracy to commit a crime, unauthorised access to computer programme or electronic records of the DVLA and defrauding by false pretences.
Kwaku Torgbo Wise Dziedzorm, a 38-year-old Sales and onboarding Manager, was also in the dock for allegedly assisting Yevu and Donne to defraud Francis Kwaku Pinamang and Freeman Moses Ankomah of GH¢200 and GH¢185, respectively.
The money was collected by Yevu, who posed as an officer of the DVLA to authenticate Pinamang and Ankomah’s driver’s licence.
The accused, who were arrested at the offices of Moove Ghana Limited, at Kanda, in Accra, pleaded not guilty to their respective charges.
The court presided over by Halimah El-Alwa Abdul-Baasit turned down bail applications by lawyers of the accused, although the trio were on police enquiry bail.
The court directed the prosecution to expedite investigations and furnish it with disclosures and witness statements, and adjourned to July 24, for Case Management Conference.
Prosecuting, Chief Inspector Christopher Wonder, said the police admitted Yevu, Donne, and Dziedzorm to an enquiry bail, in order not to breach the mandatory 48-hour rule of the service.
The prosecution argued that the accused would jeopardise investigations if granted bail as the police suspected there were other conspirators, who were yet to be arrested.
Chief Insp Wonder said that the complainant, Samuel W.A Kodie, was the Head of Security and Safety, DVLA.
The court heard that on June 27, this year, Yevu went to the Moove Ghana Limited Offices’ for “work and pay” vehicle.
Chief Insp Wonder said whilst Yevu was at the office, he (Yevu) noticed that many drivers needed authentication of their driving licences.
According to the prosecution, Yevu, told Dziedzorm that he (Yevu) was an employee of the authority and could assist the drivers to authenticate their licences.
Chief Insp Wonder said that Yevu contacted Donne, who worked for an insurance company at Tema DVLA, and told him about the opportunity to “make money.”
“They planned and agreed to parade themselves as DVLA officers at the Moove Ghana Limited Office and used the DVLA online portal for the exercise,” the prosecution said.
The court heard that Donne met Yevu and Dziedzorm at Moove Ghana offices dressed in a DVLA-branded vest.
Chief Insp Wonder said Dziedzorm informed the drivers that Yevu and Donne had been dispatched from the DVLA Tema office to authenticate their driver’s licences.
The prosecution said Dziedzorm told the drivers that DVLA would not accept any other authentication report other than the one issued by his accomplices for a fee of GH¢200.
Chief Insp Wonder said that Dziedzorm created office space for Yevu and Donne, who set up their computers and illegally accessed drivers’ information from the DVLA portal.
The court heard that the accused charged each driver GH¢200, including Francis Kwaku Pinamang and Freeman Moses Ankomah, which was below the official service charge of GH¢471.
GNA