An Adenta Circuit Court has remanded a staff member of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) into police custody over the alleged theft of a tugboat valued at US$500,000.
Prince Edwin Brem, 47, a GPHA staffer and businessman, faces charges of defrauding by false pretences and forgery of stamps. The court is expected to take his plea at the next adjourned sitting.
Brem was initially absent when the case was called last Thursday, prompting the court to issue a bench warrant for his arrest. He later appeared before the presiding judge, Ms Angela Attachie, who remanded him into lawful custody. Chief Inspector Maxwell Lanyo is leading the prosecution.
According to court documents, the complainant, Mr Kofi Kuwada, a resident of Aflao in the Volta Region, owns the tugboat, MV Ebenezer. Brem, who resides in Tema Community Two, allegedly presented himself as a director of Clearsail Shipping International Management Limited and chartered the tugboat on November 14, 2024, under an agreement that expired on February 24, 2025.
The prosecution stated that Brem signed the charter agreement using what he claimed was the official company stamp, giving the impression he had authority to act on behalf of the company. Despite repeated efforts by Kuwada to retrieve the vessel, the tugboat was not returned, prompting a police complaint.
Investigations revealed that neither of Clearsail Shipping’s directors had authorised Brem to sign the agreement, and the stamp he used was unauthorised. Brem reportedly admitted chartering the tugboat and promising to return it but failed to comply.
Police intelligence later traced the tugboat to Guinea-Bissau. While arrangements were being made for its return, Brem allegedly ordered the vessel to sail to The Gambia and then to North American waters, without the complainant’s consent and against police directives.
Court records note, “It has become clear that the accused has no intention of returning the boat to the owner.”