A Ghanaian trader, Constance Gyasi Nimako, also known as Maa Adwoa, has been remanded into custody by an Accra Circuit Court for allegedly stealing GH¢800,000 that was mistakenly transferred into her bank account. The accused is facing charges of stealing and money laundering, with court documents revealing that she spent GH¢770,500 of the funds before the error was discovered.
The case, which has generated public interest due to the scale of the alleged fraud, was heard before Presiding Judge Mrs. Susan Eduful, who ordered that the accused be remanded due to the seriousness of the charges and concerns that she might abscond if granted bail.
According to court prosecutors, the complainant in the case is the Chief Executive Officer of a company (name withheld) that holds a corporate bank account at Consolidated Bank Ghana (CBG) and a personal account with Ecobank Ghana.
On February 4, 2025, the complainant instructed the Manet Branch of CBG to transfer GH¢800,000 from the company’s account into his personal Ecobank account to facilitate a business transaction. However, in the process of executing the transaction, the wrong account number was entered, and the money was mistakenly credited to Constance Gyasi Nimako’s account at Ecobank. By the time the complainant followed up on the status of the delayed transfer, the damage had already been done.
Between February 6 and February 11, 2025, Nimako allegedly took swift action to disperse the funds:
She transferred GH¢300,000 to her mother’s account at Fidelity Bank
Moved GH¢400,000 to her personal account at GCB Bank
Withdrew GH¢70,500 in cash
By the time officials from CBG and Ecobank attempted to reverse the erroneous transfer, only GH¢29,778.47 remained in the account. The banks’ efforts to retrieve the remaining funds proved futile, prompting the complainant to lodge a complaint with law enforcement
After discovering the error, CBG’s Head of Security and Investigations assisted the complainant in filing a report with the police. When contacted by the police, Nimako allegedly refused to cooperate, hurled insults and curses at the officers, and went into hiding.
She was later arrested in Kumasi, while her mother, Cecilia Gyasi, was also apprehended in Accra. Investigators uncovered that Nimako had informed her mother about the unexpected money and instructed her to withdraw the GH¢300,000 sent to her Fidelity Bank account. Cecilia complied, leading to charges of abetment of crime to wit: money laundering.
In court, both Constance Gyasi Nimako and her mother pleaded not guilty to the charges. Judge Susan Eduful ruled that due to the grave nature of the allegations and the risk of flight, Constance should be remanded into lawful custody while investigations continue.
Her mother, however, was granted bail in the sum of GH¢500,000, with two sureties who must be immediate family members earning not less than GH¢2,000 per month.
The case has been adjourned to July 7, 2025, pending further investigations and evidence gathering by the prosecution.
During interrogation, Nimako claimed that the GH¢800,000 was sent to her by a foreign company, though she could not provide any documentation or prior business relationship. She insisted she had used the money to order goods from abroad and was awaiting delivery.
Authorities have described her story as unsubstantiated, and prosecutors are now tracking the movement of funds to recover whatever remains and verify her claims.
The case has reignited conversations around:
Banking errors and the duty of recipients to return mistaken transfers
The legal consequences of failing to report or refund wrongly credited money
The importance of financial literacy and digital ethics
Legal experts caution that even if a transfer is made in error, knowingly using such funds without authorization constitutes theft and can attract charges such as money laundering, especially if steps are taken to conceal or rechannel the money.
The case also raises questions about banks’ verification procedures and the urgent need to improve customer protection frameworks in Ghana’s digital finance space.