The Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service has begun investigations into a case in which the ace Ghanaian rapper, Michael Addo, known in showbiz as Sarkodie, is alleged to have bought a stolen car.
The police said Sarkodie assigned his agents to register his infinity saloon car at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA), but it turned out that the police had been looking for that vehicle for some time now because it was a stolen car.
According to the Public Relations Officer of the CID, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Joseph Benefo Darkwa, Sarkodie was invited by the police to assist in investigations into the case.
He said while Sarkodie's agents were going through the registration process, DVLA officials realized that the said car had been reported stolen and so they alerted the police.
ASP Darkwa said based on the information from the DVLA, Sarkodie was invited to the CID Headquarters to assist in investigations.
Meanwhile, when Sarkodie's lawyer, Mr Moses Foh-Amoaning, was contacted, he denied the police claim and explained that in 2013 the rapper had bought an Infinity saloon car from one Ishmael Amponsah, also known as Papa.
According to him, Sarkodie had no immediate use of the car and he, therefore, parked it in his house from 2013 to date.
He said later Sarkodie signed on a new artist and gave him the car.
Mr Foh-Amoaning said Sarkodie sent two of his assigns to take the car, which had been sitting in the garage for some time, to the DVLA for registration.
He said while going through the process, the assigns were informed that the car had been listed as a stolen vehicle from the Auto Theft Unit of the CID.
The assigns reported back to Sarkodie, who called his lawyer and they went to the CID Headquarters to verify the claim by DVLA officials.
He said at the Auto Theft Unit, the two were shown a petition written by Dominic Afful, who is Papa's brother-in-law.
The lawyer said Sarkodie then provided the original documents for the police and even called Papa to inform him about the turn of events.
According to Mr Foh-Amoaning, Sarkodie told the police that it was a family issue and that the car had not been stolen.
He said Papa, who is now in the United States of America (USA), called the police to explain to them that the car had been brought down to Ghana by his brother whose name he gave only as Johnny but that it was cleared at the Tema Port by Afful, who is married to Papa's sister.
He said Afful was annoyed that his wife had conspired with her brother, without his (Afful's) knowledge, to sell the car and so he reported the matter to police.
Mr Foh-Amoaning indicated that Sarkodie had told Papa that he was no longer interested in the car and so Papa should pay him back his money and resolve the family issue, to which Papa agreed.
He said he and his client had not been invited by the police but that they only showed up at the Auto Theft Unit following the information from the DVLA. Investigations are ongoing.