The Police have said that the Jaguar and Mercedes Benz M-Class reported stolen from Italy, and retrieved from Rev Owusu Bempah, General Overseer of the Endtime Ministries International are products of a syndicated crime.
This was revealed by the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Criminal Investigations Department (CID), Vincent Dzakpata. He said the police, in collaboration with the International Police Organisation (INTERPOL) was conducting further investigations to get the other members of the syndicate for further questioning before the case would be put before court.
However, independent investigations have it that the two cars were from a car stealing syndicate based in Europe. They were among cars sent to Rev Owusu Bempah to sell, some of which he kept. This, the Police and INTERPOL are working hard to unravel.
ACP Dzakpata said there was a third car, a Toyota Lexus, also reported stolen but found in the possession of the Reverend Minister. He said it had been established that Rev Owusu Bempah had sold that car to somebody (name withheld) and the police had asked the person to return it to them.
The two cars, retrieved from Rev Owusu Bempah, are currently parked at the police headquarters. Rev Owusu Bempah was arrested last Friday 24 January 2003, for having in his possession two vehicles allegedly stolen from Italy. The Mercedes belonged to an Italian named Scolari Giorgio.
It said the Jaguar, which had GW 320 S as the registration number in November 2002, is now registered GW 1331 T, a number that belongs to a Ford Club Wagon owned by Ekow Aikins of Post Office Box GP 4319, Accra.