22-year-old shop attendant convicted for stealing GH¢39,385.00

A 22-year-old shop attendant, who stole GH¢39,385.00 from a telecommunication shop has been fined 100 penalty units (GH₵1,200) by an Accra Circuit Court.

The convict is also to serve a day in prison.

Charged with stealing, Paulina Boateng pleaded guilty and was convicted on her own plea.

The court presided over by Isaac Addoh, said the convict in default of the fine served 12 months’ imprisonment.

It ordered the convict to pay the remaining balance of the money to the complainant.

Earlier, a lawyer acting as a friend of the court, Lord Delvin Essandoh prayed to the Court for lenience, saying the convict was a first-time offender and that per the facts it was obvious that she was remorseful for having paid part of the amount of money.

Essandoh also said the convict did not waste the time of the court and had her whole life ahead of her.

He prayed the Court to consider all the factors and meted out the minimum sentence possible concerning the said offence.

The prosecution led by Police Chief Inspector Jonas Lawer confirmed to the Court that the convict was not known.

The facts initially narrated by the prosecution were that the complainant Daniel Nana Amaning was an electrical engineer and doubled as shop supervisor for Glorious Bost Ventures.

The prosecution said both the complainant and the convict resided at Nii Boi Town, Accra.

It said in January 2023, the convict was employed as a shop attendant by the owner of the shop to manage the affairs of the company which dealt with selling electrical prepaid and mobile money of all kinds of telecommunication networks.

However, the prosecution said in February 2023, one Fati Sulemana, a witness in the case, was also employed as a salesperson to assist the convict in managing the affairs of the company.

It said, “recently, an internal auditor was engaged to audit the activities in the shop, and it was detected that an amount of GH₵39,385.00 had been misappropriated by the convict.”

The prosecution said she was confronted with the misappropriation of funds, she admitted and promised to refund the money when she received her salary.

It said on February 13, 2024, the complainant filed a complaint with the Police and the convict was arrested with suspect Sulemana for questioning.

The prosecution said during the investigation the convict admitted to the offence in her caution statement and stated that she took an amount of GH₵15,000.00 and GH₵20,000.00 which was recorded as bad debt.

It said the convict refunded an amount of GH₵9,000.00 as part of the payment of the money she misappropriated from the shop.