Constance Gyasi Nimako, an Accra trader, has landed in jail for allegedly stealing and laundering GH¢770,500 that was mistakenly credited to her bank account.
Nimako also popularly known among her peers as Maa Adowa, was accused by the Accra High Court of spending nearly the entire GH¢800,000 that was wrongly sent to her Ecobank account on February 6, 2025 due to bank error.
Instead of Nimako reporting the wrong transfer, she moved GH¢300,000 to her mother’s Fidelity Bank account, transferred GH¢400,000 to her GCB Bank account, and withdrew GH¢70,500 in cash, according to police.
By the time the mistake was discovered, only GH¢29,500 remained in her Ecobank account.
The court has slapped her with two charges: stealing and money laundering. Her mother, Cecilia Gyasi, has also been charged with abetment of crime to wit money laundering. Both have pleaded not guilty.
Presiding Judge Mrs Susan Eduful denied Nimako bail due to the seriousness of the charges and fears she might abscond. However, the court granted Cecilia Gyasi bail of GH¢500,000 with two sureties who must be immediate family members earning at least GH¢2,000 monthly.
The case has been adjourned to July 7, 2025.
The complainant, who is the CEO of a company (name withheld), holds both a company account at Consolidated Bank Ghana (CBG) and a personal account at Ecobank.
On February 4, 2025, he instructed CBG’s Manet branch to transfer GH¢800,000 from the company’s account to his personal Ecobank account. But he mistakenly provided Nimako’s account number instead of his own.
By the time the error was discovered, and CBG contacted Ecobank to reverse the transaction, Nimako had already moved the funds, leaving only GH¢29,778.47 in her account.
Despite efforts by both banks to retrieve the money, Nimako reportedly refused to return it. The complainant then reported the incident to the police with assistance from CBG’s Head of Security and Investigations.
When police reached out to her, Nimako allegedly insulted and cursed the officers, then went into hiding. Authorities later arrested her in Kumasi, while her mother was picked up in Accra.
Investigations revealed that Nimako had informed her mother about the funds and instructed her to withdraw the GH¢300,000 deposited in her Fidelity Bank account, which she did.
During interrogation, Nimako claimed the money came from a foreign company she had never done business with. She further alleged that she had ordered goods with the funds and was waiting for them to be delivered.
Meanwhile, the prosecution says investigations are still ongoing to trace and recover the remaining funds.
