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The trial judge in the case in which a lawyer and two others have been accused of obtaining $3.5 million through money laundering activities has threatened to discharge the accused persons. Mr Justice John Ajet-Nasam said if on the next adjourned date of May 21, 2012 the prosecution did not give tangible reasons why the matter should not be heard, the court would have no option but discharge the accused persons. He expressed regret that the country had not been able to prosecute even a single money laundering case and, according to him, that did not augur well for the country�s image. The judge said this yesterday when Ms Diana Adu Anane, counsel for the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), told the court that the Attorney-General�s office had instructed investigators in the case to conduct further investigations into some aspects of the matter. Counsel, therefore, requested for a 60-day adjournment, which the court obliged but with reservations. The court had, on several occasions, expressed misgivings over the delay by the prosecution in prosecuting the matter and indicated that it would not countenance any further delay in prosecuting the case. Mr George Heward-Mills, one of the defence lawyers, was not happy with the persistent adjournment at the instance of the prosecution which had a psychological and tortuous effect on the accused persons. He prayed the court to discharge the accused persons, so that when the prosecution was ready, hearing notices could be issued to them to attend court. �The present development of continuous adjournment is an embarrassment to all of us,� he said. Charles Owusu Juanah, the lawyer, Dr Amoah and Nana Agyei were first arraigned on January 19, 2012, charged with two counts of conspiracy and aiding and abetting money laundering activities. They have pleaded not guilty to the offences and are each granted bail in the sum of $4 million, with three sureties each, one each to be justified. They are being held for their roles in luring a Dubai-based businessman, Mohammed Shafiq, who is the Chief Executive Officer of the Jampur Group, and his agents into the country to establish business dealings in gold. The prosecution said when Mr Shafiq and his agents arrived in Ghana, they were told that the gold had been lodged in a vault at the SG-SSB Bank and were made to pay $3.5 million before it would be released.