Sales boy jailed after stealing employer's GH¢353,000 to 'find' wife

A sales boy working for a plumbing company, Alfred Mensah, has been convicted by the Adentan Circuit Court for stealing GH¢353,471 from his employer under the pretext of using the money to get married.

Mensah was fined GH¢12,000. In default of payment, he will serve a two-year prison sentence, according to a citinewsroom.com report on June 28, 2026.

He pleaded guilty to the charge of stealing.

The case came to light on June 17, 2025, when the complainant arrested Mensah and handed him over to the Lakeside Community 8 Police Station. This followed a report from a business partner that Mensah had collected plumbing materials worth GH¢56,000 without making payment.

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Chief Inspector Maxwell Lanyo, who led the prosecution, told the court that the complainant, Gideon Offei Tieku, is a businessman dealing in plumbing materials at Lakeside and Kantamanto. He noted that Mensah had worked with him for seven years.

Between 2024 and 2025, the complainant noticed unexplained financial losses in his business but could not immediately trace their source.

During police interrogation, Mensah admitted the offence and revealed that he had handed the stolen money to Mary Asantewaa and Samuel Dika, claiming they had promised to help him find a wife.

Investigations revealed that Mensah was allegedly deceived into sending additional funds after being told the supposed bride was ill with a kidney condition and required urgent treatment in South Africa.

Mensah reportedly transferred a total of GH¢353,471.50 through Asantewaa’s mobile money account.

Further investigations led to the arrest of Asantewaa, who allegedly implicated Dika as her accomplice. Dika was also arrested, while additional inquiries linked Emmanuel Okyere, Miriam Okai, and Vida Yeboah as beneficiaries of the stolen funds.

The prosecution said GH¢46,000 was later recovered from Vida Yeboah as part of ongoing recovery efforts.

The court ordered Mensah to refund the full amount and imposed a GH¢12,000 fine, in default of which he will serve two years’ imprisonment.

Standing trial alongside him are Mary Asantewaa, a trader, and Emmanuel Okyere, a pastor, who are charged with abetment of crime, to wit stealing, and dishonestly receiving stolen property.

Others, including Samuel Dika, Miriam Okai, and 59-year-old trader Vida Yeboah, are also charged with dishonestly receiving stolen property. All accused persons, except Mensah, pleaded not guilty and have been granted bail in the sum of GH¢353,471 each, with justification.

AM/MA

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