Police Nab Bank Cash Thieves in Kumasi

The Ashanti Regional Police have foiled the activities of a notorious gang specializing in stealing large sums of money from bank customers, arresting five suspects and retrieving crucial evidence.

Addressing the media in Kumasi, the Regional Police Commander, DCoP Emmanuel Teye-Cudjoe, described the arrest of some members of the suspected gang which membership is virtually of Nigerian extraction, as a breakthrough for the Police in the fight against crime in the region. 

According to the Police, the suspected syndicate has been operating in both Accra and Kumasi and in Kumasi alone, they have, between 15th November 2024 and the 11th June, 2025, struck and stolen thousands of Ghana Cedis from their victims in six different operations. 

The amount of money stolen ranges from GHC 22,000 to GHC 107,000, with all incidents involving the suspects trailing their victims after they had withdrawn the cash from various banks.

The Ashanti Regional Police Commander, DCoP Emmanuel Teye-Cudjoe, at a media briefing, disclosed the modus operandi employed by the syndicate involving the use of two Toyota Highlander vehicles.

According to the Regional Police Commander, through a sustained intelligence gathering supported by the intelligence video surveillance system, three members of the gang were arrested last Thursday, June 19, 2025. 

They are Russel Ekenze, 29 and a taxi driver, Francis Friday, 49 and a politician as well as Linus Anwazie, 51, who is a trader. 

The Police retrieved from them the two Toyota Highlander vehicles suspected to be the crime operational cars and a 6-inch ‘T’-shaped metal believed to be used as the Master Key by the syndicate for their theft operations. 

The Regional Police Commander said, the suspects, during interrogation, confessed to the crime at various suburbs in Kumasi and also identified Cosmas Maduabuchukwu, Ezuchukwu, C.J and Lele, all of Nigerian extraction in addition to their only Ghanaian accomplice, named only as D.D. who are all on the run. 

DCoP Teye-Cudjoe noted that Cosmas, who is suspected to have suffered a gunshot wound and fled from police arrest, sought refuge at a Drinking Bar at Kenyase near Kumasi jointly operated by a Nigerian woman, Gifty Ozurumbam and Gladys Ibrahim. 

The two women have since been arrested for obstructing police investigations by refusing to disclose the whereabout of Cosmas. 

The five suspects, made up of three men and the two women have been arraigned and remanded into police custody by a court in Kumasi. 

The Regional Police Commander assured residents in the Ashanti region of the dedication of the Police Command to do their best to bring crime under control to ensure the safety and security of everyone and also called on members of the public to volunteer actionable information to the command to facilitate their work.