A staff member of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA), standing trial in a $500,000 stolen tugboat case, has been granted bail by a Tema High Court.
The accused, Prince Edwin Brem, 47, was admitted to bail in the sum of GH¢500,000 with three sureties after his lawyer filed an application on January 19, 2026. As part of the bail conditions, the court ordered him to report to the police every Friday.
Meanwhile, proceedings in the substantive case, which is before an Adenta Circuit Court, have been adjourned to April 8, 2026, for a Case Management Conference.
Brem has been charged with defrauding by false pretences and forgery of stamps. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Presenting the facts, Chief Inspector Maxwell Lanyo told the court that the complainant, Mr Kofi Kuwada, a resident of Afloa in the Volta Region, is the owner of the tugboat, MV Ebenezer. The accused resides at Tema Community Two.
The prosecution said that on November 14, 2024, Brem allegedly presented himself as a director of Clearsail Shipping International Management Limited and entered into a ship charter agreement with the complainant.
Under the agreement, Brem chartered the tugboat, valued at $500,000, for a three-month period, which expired on February 24, 2025. However, he allegedly failed to return the vessel at the end of the contract.
According to the prosecution, Brem signed the agreement and stamped it with what he claimed was the official company stamp, creating the impression that he had the authority to act on behalf of Clearsail Shipping.
All attempts by the complainant to retrieve the tugboat proved unsuccessful, prompting a report to the Tema Fishing Harbour Police Station on September 1, 2025.
Police investigations led to Mr Boniface Acheampong, a director of Clearsail Shipping International Management Limited, who told investigators that neither he nor the other company director had authorised Brem to sign the charter agreement. He further stated that the stamp used was neither sanctioned nor recognised by the company.
Brem was arrested on September 5, 2025, after reporting to the Tema Police. During investigations, he admitted chartering the tugboat and promised to return it, but failed to do so.
Police intelligence later revealed that the tugboat was in Guinea-Bissau. While arrangements were underway for its return to Ghana, Brem allegedly ordered the vessel, without the consent of the owner and contrary to police directives, to sail to The Gambia and subsequently to North American waters.
The prosecution told the court that it had become clear the accused had no intention of returning the tugboat to its owner.
