Cyril Nyarko, a 27-year old Biomedical engineer, has been arraigned before an Accra Circuit Court on the offense of using a rented vehicle as collateral to collect a personal loan.

Cyril rented Hyundai Elantra with registration no. GT-8626-21, and present the same with its supposed documents to businessman Prince Sarkodie as a form of collateral for a loan of GHc27,000.00.

He was said to have collected the loan on May 12, 2022, under the pretense to use the money to clear his excavator at the port for his small-scale mining business.

The prosecuting officer Inspector Eric Pobee told the court presided over by His Honour Emmanuel Essandoh yesterday that Cyril failed to make a monthly payment of the loan and interest, as agreed between him and the creditor.

Later, he said, the creditor received information on Cyril’s arrest by the Dansoman police station in July 2022. Prince, however, found out after visiting the Dansoman police station that Cyril had rented someone’s Toyota Rav 4 and forged the documents of the same vehicle to acquire a loan. 

Prince became alarmed, and was, therefore, compelled to check the authenticity of the document covering the Hyundai Elantra, which Cyril had presented to him at the Driver, Vehicle, and License Authority (DVLA) office in Accra. And, to Prince’s utmost surprise, Cyril used the same modus operandi to acquire the loan from him.

Prince then reported the case to the police for investigations and during investigations, police wrote a letter to DVLA, Accra office to further check vehicle authenticity but a reply from the DVLA indicates that the document presented to the latter was also forged. 

Therefore, on July 20, 2022, Cyril was rearrested, and during interrogation, he admitted the offense in his investigation caution statement and hinted that a supposed “Guru Boy” at DVLA by the name of Edward, was the one who forged the vehicle documents for him to present to the complainant.

After investigations accused was charged with the offenses -defrauding by false pretense, abetment to forge other documents, and uttering false documents. The accused pleaded not guilty to the charges and has been granted bail in the sum of GHC30,000 with two sureties, one of which should be a public officer earning not less than GH¢1,500 a month.