Trasacco Dragged To Court For Contempt On Pantang Lands

The Executive Chairman and CEO of Trasacco Group, Ernesto Taricone has been sued for Contempt for setting into motion a ‘fraudulent’ scheme purporting to execute a Ruling of the Court of Appeal, without serving the Applicant aby notice of entry of judgment over parcel of land at Pantang in the Adentan municipality in Accra.

The Motion for an Order for Committal for Contempt which was filed on May 31, 2022, was filed by Jeleel Company Ghana Limited, indicating that the Company has vast land at Pantang and has valid land certificate issued by the Lands Commission covering the said land.

It also stated that, the Applicant also has valid and still subsisting judgement of the High Court declaring title on the land in favour of Jeleel Company Ghana limited for another portion of the land pursuant to which the Applicant was placed in possession of the land.

Meanwhile, the said judgement of the High Court has not been set aside, hence the Applicant has been in peaceful possession of the said parcel of land and erected numerous residential buildings on the land.

“That after the Applicant was placed on the land pursuant to a writ of Possession, 2^nd Respondent (Trasacco Furniture Ghana Limited) claiming that it owns portions of the land of the Applicant, applied to the High Court, Accra to set aside the writ of possession issued in favour of the Applicant, but this Application was refused by the High Court.”

The Applicant also stated in the Writ that, the 2^nd Respondent being aggrieved by the decision of the High Court, appealed to the Court of Appeal which allowed the appeal and set aside the Writ of Possession after which it was long executed by the Court, but made no executable orders in favour of the 2^nd Respondent.

It however emerged that, the Applicant later took steps to file an application for a stay of execution pending the appeal.

In pursuant to that, the Supreme Court on March 2, 2022 delivered its judgment stressing that there were no executable orders made in favour of the Respondents and that no title was declared in any parcel of land in favour of the Respondents.

In the said ruling by the Supreme Court, there was no Order of recovery of possession made in favour of the Respondents.

Moreso, the Respondents did not file and serve the Applicant any notice of entry of judgment of the Supreme Court which is a mandatory pre-requisite for the execution of any judgement of the court.

Ernesto Taricone, without any order of recovery of possession of a specific land and without serving on the Applicant a notice of entry of judgement, led a team of thugs onto the land on May 27, 2022 and demolished some structures on the land purporting to be executing the judgement of the Supreme Court.

The Applicant later reported the incident to the Adentan police station where the 1^st Respondent (Ernesto Taricone) appeared to defend the demolition on the grounds that he was executing the judgement of the Supreme Court.

According to the Applicant, the conduct of the Respondents is deliberate and calculated attempts to bring the administration of justice into disrepute and erode public confidence in the Courts.

It also averred that the deliberate misrepresentation of the orders of the Court by the Respondents brings the administration of justice, the judicial process, and the authority and mandate of the Courts to “gross and naked disrepute.”

In view of these, the Applicant prayed the Court top commit the Respondents for his contempt of Court.