Five granted bail over GH¢2.3m, $191k counterfeit currency scandal

Five individuals arrested in a major counterfeit currency operation involving over GH¢2.3 million and $191,900 in fake banknotes have been granted bail by an Accra Circuit Court following their third court appearance on Monday, July 7, 2025.

At the center of the case is Shubham Sharma, the General Manager of a company based in Accra, who is accused of orchestrating the scheme. 

He was granted bail in the sum of GH¢500,000, with two sureties—one of whom must be a public servant earning at least GH¢5,000 per month, and the other, a justified surety. 

Sharma must surrender his travel documents and report weekly to the police, and a “Stop Order” has been placed at all border exit points to prevent his escape.

Co-accused James Mozu Bonaparte (a graphic designer) and Prince Owusu Ahenkorah (a photographer and video director) were each granted GH¢300,000 bail, with similar conditions, and required to deposit their travel documents at the court registry.

Jonathan Kwame Appiah and Solomon Adjetey Adjei, both graphic designers, were each admitted to bail in the amount of GH¢200,000, with two sureties, including one public servant earning at least GH¢2,000.

All five suspects are required to report to the police once every week until further notice.

They have been jointly charged with conspiracy to commit a crime, while additional charges include possession of forged notes for Sharma, Bonaparte, and Ahenkorah, and uttering forged currency for Appiah and Adjei. Their pleas are yet to be taken by the court, presided over by Mr. Samuel Bright Acquah.

The prosecution, led by Chief Inspector Wisdom Alorwu, was instructed to file full disclosures before the next hearing on July 22, 2025.

According to investigative reports, the complainant is an Accra-based businessman who discovered that $230,000 had vanished from his bedroom safe. The prime suspect, Sharma, allegedly replaced the stolen cash with counterfeit GH¢200 and $100 bills.

Police intelligence led to a raid at the company’s Adabraka Industrial Area office, where fake GH¢200 notes worth GH¢2,318,000 and $100 bills totaling $191,900 were found. Sharma is said to have admitted ownership of the counterfeit money.

Further investigations revealed Sharma paid Bonaparte GH¢25,000 to produce the fake Ghana cedis and GH¢15,000 for the counterfeit dollars. Bonaparte reportedly worked with Ahenkorah, who was caught with five bundles of fake GH¢200 notes and later implicated Appiah in the operation.

Appiah, identified as the manager of the printing press, allegedly supervised the printing and linked police to Adjei, who is believed to have delivered the counterfeit money to Ahenkorah.