The Attorney General has taken over the case of En Huang, popularly known as Aisha Huang and three others, which is pending before an Accra Circuit Court.
Ms Mercy Arthur, Principal State Attorney, prayed the Circuit Court to give her two weeks as the Office had given the Police further directions to investigate certain aspects of the case after studying it.
According to her, the Police had reached an advanced stage in investigations.
The Principal State Attorney said the State did not take delight in curtailing the rights of accused persons and prayed the court to grant them a short adjournment.
Aisha, also known as Ruixia Huang, aged 47, is standing trial with three others namely Huang Jei, John Li Hua and Huaid Hai Hun.
Additionally, Aisha is being held for engaging in mining without a license.
They are being held for allegedly engaging in the sale and purchase of minerals without a valid license.
They have denied all the charges.
Oheneba Adusi Poku, who held the brief of Captain Retired Nkrabeah Effah Dartey for Aisha and two others, prayed the court to admit the accused persons to bail.
The defence counsel said per the statement of the representatives of the AG, it appeared the trial would be delayed and prayed the court to take a second look at the accused person’s bail application.
The counsel argued that the accused persons were not in a position to interfere with investigations.
Mr Frank Kumakoh, who represented Jei, also repeated his application for bail for his client, saying Jei was a student, and that she only visited a friend at Aisha’s premises when she was picked up.
Mr Kumakoh held that the charges preferred against the accused persons were not the “actual state of affairs”, and that the court should not use bail as punishment against the accused persons.
“Prosecution is causing delay to punish the accused persons. My Lord, I know your hands are not tied to admit the accused persons to bail. Grant us bail so we can appear before you to defend ourselves.”
The court presided over by Mr Bright Samuel Acquah obliged the prosecution and remanded the accused persons into lawful custody to reappear on November 11.
The prosecution’s case was that during the year 2017, Aisha was arrested for similar offences, but she managed to sneak out of the country in 2019, averting prosecution.
It said during the early part of the year 2022, Aisha sneaked back into the country after having changed her details on her Chinese Passport.
Again, the prosecution said Aisha allegedly commenced small-scale mining activities without a license and together with the rest of the accused persons engaged in the sale and purchase of Minerals in Accra without valid authority granted as required by the Minerals Act.
The prosecution held that Hua, Jei, and Hun were also into the sale of equipment used in illegal mining activities allegedly.
It said based on intelligence, the accused persons were picked up.