Four persons who were allegedly accused of extorting money from Ghana’s Black
Stars Captain, Asamoah Gyan to halt the publication of rape and sodomy tape
against him have been acquitted and discharged.
An Accra Circuit Court presided over by Mrs. Afia Agbanu Kumador in her ruling on a submission of no case held that the prosecution has not been able to establish a case against the accused persons.
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The accused persons are
Osarfo Anthony, an Entertainment writer, Chris Handler a blogger, Sarah Kwablah
a student and Ekow Micah, a Musician.
They have been facing
charges of extortion and conspiracy to commit crime for the past three years.
The facts as narrated by Prosecution was that Mr Anim Agyei is the complainant and a manager of Asamoah Gyan while Anthony is an employee of Handler.
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The Prosecution said
in June 2016, an alleged sodomy story broke out in Ghana’s electronic and print
media and attributed to Asamoah Gyan.
According to the
Prosecution in the said publication Sarah alleged that Gyan had sexual
intercourse and anal sex with her and she became pregnant.
The Prosecution said Sarah discussed the matter with Micah who then met Anthony and Handler and they in turn decided to publish the story on their website in order to scare Gyan to give them money.
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The Prosecution said
Anthony and Handler published the first story on their website and promised to
release the sex tape in their subsequent editions.
Prosecution said a
witness in the case who read the story on their website then informed the
complainant.
According to the
Prosecution the complainant contacted Anthony on phone and he threatened to
release the sex tape unless a huge amount was paid or a house was bought for
Sarah.
The prosecution said
in the complainant in a bid to protect the image of Gyan asked Anthony and
Handler to hold on with the publication.
Prosecution said
Anthony and Handler threatened to defame the Skipper and called for swift
payment of the money.
The prosecution said
the complainant feigned interest to pay and When Handler was contacted the
accused persons charged GH¢30,000.00.
According to the
Prosecution the complainant bargained with them till they settled on GH¢25,000.00.
Prosecution said the
complainant, Anthony and Handler agreed to meet at the Landing Restaurant at
the Kotoka International Airport.
The Prosecution said
the complainant then reported the matter to the Police and that at the
restaurant Anthony was given 1,000 dollars, GH¢6,000.00 and a cheque of GH¢
15,000.00 by the complainant.
The prosecution said in cause of taking the monies Anthony was however arrested and later the rest of the accused persons.
Source: GNA