The Executive Secretary of the Vehicle and Assets Dealers Union of Ghana (VADUG), Frank Atanley Kofigah, says the union is not responsible for bringing in stolen cars
Frank Atanley Kofigah made these statements following the recent clampdown on stolen vehicles by the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) and the recent discovery of about 100 stolen cars from the United States in the country.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Morning Show on Tuesday, August 26, Mr. Kofigah stressed that neither he nor the majority of dealers under the union deal in stolen vehicles.
“The theft did not happen here in Ghana. It happened in the United States or Canada or whichever country we are talking of. I do not import stolen vehicles. The members under my union, like I say I cannot vouch for all of them, do not also import stolen vehicles,” he said.
He explained that if stolen vehicles find their way into the country, it is the responsibility of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority to intercept them at the ports before they enter the system.
“So it starts first at the port, if somebody has done an illegality or anything to ensure that it doesn’t harm the citizenry. The agency that has been taxed or mandated with that oversight responsibility should ensure that it doesn’t come in,” he added.
Frank Atanley Kofigah also recalled a similar operation in 2023 involving EOCO and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), during which several garages belonging to members VADUG were raided
“What happened in 2023, the FBI, EOCO, they went and they did a swoop. All our members whose garages were raided, we got their names, we got the vehicle numbers, we engaged EOCO. Every single vehicle or every single document that they required of us, we released it. For our members, those who found themselves in this group, all their vehicles have been retrieved from EOCO because they have submitted the documents, they realized that it was a mistake and the vehicles have been released,” he explained.
Frank Atanley Kofigah said the union remains open to working with agencies like EOCO, the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC), and the Customs Preventive Unit to share information and curb the importation of stolen cars.
“We are ready to collaborate with all the agencies, EOCO, FIC, Preventive, to ensure that this menace stops because we have information, they have information. But if they are expecting us to walk into their office to collaborate with them whilst they are the oversight institutions to ensure this, then they are making a mistake,” he said.
In recent weeks, EOCO has intensified efforts to clamp down on vehicles suspected to have been stolen from North America and shipped into the country.
They have cautioned the public to conduct thorough due diligence before purchasing vehicles, warning that cars confirmed to be stolen abroad may be confiscated regardless of whether buyers purchased them in good faith
