Story: Stephen Sah
BAIL CONTRACTORS INFILTRATE JUDICIARY


A syndicate, whose members include some foreign nationals, has infiltrated the ranks of the country’s judiciary as bail contractors, using unclaimed documents in the custody of the courts and fake ones to secure bail for accused persons.
Daily Graphic investigations indicate that the bail contractors, whose practices are widespread in Accra, operate mainly at the 28th February Road courts but they occasionally extend their operations to other parts of the country.
They operate under trees near the Complaints Unit at the Cocoa Affairs Court where they do brisk business.
Sources say the contractors are in league with prosecutors, investigators and lawyers who approach them for their services.
The bail contractors allegedly charge their customers between GH¢500 and GH¢6,000 depending on the bail term, and give them documents such as indentures and titles to property in plush residential areas in Accra.
According to a source, the contractors are usually given unclaimed documents which had been used to secure bail for offenders by some court officials, while the contractors themselves also secure fake ones from other sources, such as the Land Title Registry, among others.
The contractors, who are known by court clerks and other officials, when approached with bail problems, usually produce fake documents to cover property at such plush areas as the Airport Residential Area, East Legon, North Ridge, Cantonments, among other areas.
Sources close to the courts allege that police investigators do not visit a property; once a document is provided, the “proper” thing is thought to have been done.
Currently, the sources say that the syndicate is made up of an indigenous group, as well as a foreign group whose members are mainly from Mali, Niger and other Sahelian countries.
This reporter approached three well-known contractors separately under a tree at the Cocoa Affairs Court with a bail problem for a relative.
When the contractors were told that the bail amount was GH¢10,000, all three of them charged between GH¢1,000 and GH¢2,500.
A lawyer who declined to be named said he was aware of “professional” bailers who charged people and guaranteed with their documents.
When told about how the group secured the documents, the lawyer replied, “It is possible that they get access to some of the documents in the custody of the courts because a client of mine had experienced something nasty in the past.”
According to the lawyer, his client’s documents could not be traced when he needed them to secure bail in a different court.
He stated that there were some property owners who swore affidavits and handed their documents to such contractors to work with and make money.
However, he said, anytime offenders absconded, such contractors faced jail terms not exceeding six months.
Another lawyer described the bail business as booming, adding that a story about it in the newspapers would greatly affect it.
He, however, admitted that the practice could be responsible for the loss or disappearance of some dockets in the courts.