Trader jailed three months for posing as a public officer

Asamankese (E/R), Sept. 24, GNA - A trader who posed as an operative of the Bureau of National Investigation (BNI) and collected 4.9 million cedis as part-payment for three vehicles he promised to buy from his "employers" has been jailed six months with hard labour by a circuit court at Asamankese.

After collecting the money in January, Prince Twum-Barima, 40, who claimed the vehicles were to be auctioned, went into hiding until he was arrested in August.

When Twum-Barima was arraigned he initially pleaded not guilty but later begged the court to give him a "little time" to repay the money. The presiding judge, Mr S.S. Appiah, however, convicted him for defrauding three persons by false pretences.

The court ordered him to refund 4.9 million cedis he collected in addition to 600,000 cedis being interest accruing to the complainants. He will go to prison for three additional years if the fails to pay the total of 5.5 million cedis.

Prosecuting, Police Inspector G.D. Bruce told the court that in January this year, Akua Biamah attended a prayer meeting at Anoma-Kwadwo where she met Twum-Barima who proposed to marry her. Biamah furnished Twum-Barima with the direction to her house at Okumaning, near Kade and after two weeks he visited her. She introduced him to her landlord and two of her younger sisters' husbands.

Twum-Barima introduced himself to them as a BNI officer and told them that his office would auction some vehicles. The Prosecutor said the complainants showed interest in the vehicles and the accused promised to assist them to buy three of the vehicles.

Twum-Barima collected sums of money totalling 4.9 million cedis from the complainants, Biamah, Yaw Bronya and Kwasi Ofori, the prosecutor said.

Twum-Barima went into hiding until September when he was seen at Asamankese by one of the complainants who caused his arrest.