Ghana deports convicted Nigerian for smuggling fake $100,000

A Nigerian national, Aremu Adegboyega, has been convicted by a Circuit Court in Accra, Ghana, for smuggling counterfeit CFA francs valued at over $100,000 into the country through an unauthorised border route. Following his conviction, the court ordered his immediate deportation back to Nigeria.

According to reports from Ghanaian newspaper The Chronicle, Adegboyega, aged 55, was arrested in 2023 by customs officers at the Aflao border while riding a motorcycle. He was charged with two counts of possessing forged currency under Ghana’s Currency Act of 1964 (Act 242), and one count of illegal entry into the country.

Presiding over the case, Justice Christiana Cann fined Adegboyega 250 penalty units (about GH¢3,000) for the possession of counterfeit currency. Failure to pay the fine would result in a two-year prison term with hard labour. Additionally, for entering Ghana illegally, he received another fine of 120 penalty units (approximately GH¢1,440), with a further two-year prison term in default of payment.

The court ruled that the prison terms should run concurrently, meaning that if Adegboyega defaults on paying both fines, he would serve a maximum of two years in prison.

In addition to the fines and possible imprisonment, the court directed the Ghana Immigration Service to deport him immediately to Nigeria.