A teacher sentenced for fraud

Aflao, Aug 03, GNA - A teacher who posed as a staff of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and defrauded a businessman after threatening to disconnect power supply to him for non-payment of electricity bill was on Wednesday sentenced to a two million-cedi fine by the circuit court at Aflao.

Frank Asempapa, 37, pleaded guilty and would go to jail for 18 months if he defaults in paying the fine.

Police Chief Inspector Kofi Frimpong told the court that on July 17, the accused and one other person now at large approached the complainant in his house and identified themselves as ECG Field engineers on transfer from the Ho to the Denu/Aflao unit and were on mass a disconnection exercise for non-settlement of bills.

The accused persons, armed with disconnection accoutrements often used by the ECG staff, threatened to disconnect supply to the complainant and succeeded in collecting from him 120,000 cedis that day. On July 18 Asempapa, acting alone, told the complainant, Peter Akorsu, to meet him at the Denu ECG office where Asempapa, who was waiting at the gate to the yard, collected the 250,000 cedis from him under the pretext of settling the bill on his behalf and submitting the receipt to him later in the house but he failed to do so.

About a week later, the complainant spotted Asempapa at Aflao and with the help of others arrested him.