Tribunal forfeits surety's house to the state
Accra, Aug. 9, GNA - A Greater Accra Regional Tribunal on Tuesday ordered that a house belonging to a surety in a narcotic case before it be forfeited to the State.

The order followed an application for forfeiture filed by the Prosecution drawing the Tribunal's attention to the fact that the surety, Akwasi Bentsil Odoom, had failed to produce the accused person to stand trial.

When the case came up for hearing on Tuesday, neither the surety nor the accused person was present.

The three-member Tribunal chaired by Mr Justice Frank Manu, therefore, ordered that Odoom's house at Adenta be forfeited to the State.

On May 5 2005, Victor Gondoh, a Ghanaian based in the United Kingdom, was put before the Tribunal on charges of attempted exportation of narcotic drugs without licence and possession of the drugs without lawful authority.

Gondoh pleaded not guilty to the charges and on June 7, the Tribunal granted him bail in the sum of 400 million cedis with a surety to be justified.

Odoom stood surety for him, and in the course of the trial, the accused person absconded.

On July 7, the Tribunal ordered Odoom to produce the accused person or forfeit his house.

The surety's failure to comply with the order prompted the Prosecution to make the application for forfeiture, which the Tribunal granted.