Man jailed 96 months over fraudulent land sale

The Juaso Circuit Court has sentenced a miner to 96 months imprisonment for fraudulently selling a parcel of land to a businessman.

Saliu Musah, a resident of Odumase in the Asante-Akim Central Municipality, was additionally ordered to refund a cash of GH?17,000 he illegally collected from the victim.

He was convicted after he pleaded guilty to the charge of defrauding by false pretenses.

He stole documents covering four plots of land along the Konongo-Yawkwei section of the Kumasi-Accra highway and used these to swindle the businessman, Henry Antwi Bennet.

Police Detective Chief Inspector Birikorang Peasah told the Court, presided over by Mr. Fredrick Tetteh, that the victim, in February last year, expressed interest in acquiring a piece of land close to the highway to build a chain of stores.

Musah, who knew of four plots of land belonging to a London-based Ghanaian, George Akomea, documents of which were being kept by his mother at Odumase, decided to steal the documents from the woman.

He succeeded in stealing the documents and told the businessman that he had been instructed by Akomea to sell the four plots and after bargaining, the two agreed on a price of GH?17,000.00, which was paid by the businessman.

The prosecution said Bennet later visited the land only to meet the mother of Akomea, who profusely denied authorizing its sale and told him of how the documents mysteriously got missing from her room.

A formal report was made to the police and Musah was arrested.