Diamond Appiah re-arrested in court

The Attorney General’s Office has filed a Nolle prosequi in the case in which Diamond Appiah, a socialite and businesswoman, is being held on a charge of fraudulent land transaction.

Appiah is accused of collecting $30,000 from Aisha Modi, a businesswoman, for a parcel of land, which allegedly belong to another person. 

The court was to deliver its ruling on whether a case of prema facie had been made against Appiah. 

However, when the matter was called this morning, the court noted that the Attorney General had filed Nolle prose qui. The court said per Act 30 of the Criminal Procedure Code, when such processes were filed the court ought to discharge the accused person. 

“Accused person here in, Diamond Appiah is here by discharged,” the Circuit Court, presided over by Mr Isaac Addo, said. 

But the accused was re-arrested by the police. The attempt by Police personnel to re-arrest the accused person resulted in exchanges between the accused person’s lawyer, Mr D.K Nyameke and the prosecutor, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Evans Kesse, and other Police officers. 

The trial judge had to intervene by registering his displeasure over the conduct of the defence counsel. Appiah earlier pleaded not guilty to the charge and on bail. 

The case of the prosecution is that the complainant Ayisha Modi is a businesswoman and lives at Adjiringanor, Accra. 

It said the accused Diamond Appiah was also a businesswoman and stayed at East Legon. 

The prosecution said in 2020, the complainant needed a plot of land to purchase for a building project and discussed it with one Johnson, a witness in the case. 

It said the accused person, who overheard the conversation jumped in that she had a plot of land at East Legon Hills and ready to sell the same to the complainant at a cheaper price. 

The accused demanded and collected cash, the sum of US$30,000 from the complainant for the said land, allegedly. 

The prosecution said the accused took the complainant to a piece of land at East Legon Hills as her land, but when the complainant later went to the land, she met one Gustav, who claimed ownership of the land. 

The complainant made several attempts to retrieve her money from Appiah but failed and made a report to the Police leading to the arrest of Appiah.

During investigation, it was established that Appiah did not have any land at that location. In her investigation cautioned statement, the prosecution said Appiah admitted the offence.