New Lawyer Remanded Over $39,000 Deal

Barely 72 hours after being enrolled as a lawyer, Kweku Sam-Amoah,was yesterday remanded by an Accra circuit court for allegedly forging documents of his employers to steal $39,000.He was among the 151 new lawyers called to the Bar last Friday.

The accused, together with a clearing agent, Quansah, who is at large, were said to have forged delivery orders of Blue Funnel Ghana Limited, and collected the money from importers without entering the payments in the record books of the company.Sam-Amoah, who graduated from the Law School last Friday, has pleaded not guilty to 12 counts of forgery of documents and stealing. He will re-appear on October 8.

The facts of the case as narrated by the prosecutor, were that Sam-Amoah was the release manager of Blue Funnel Ghana Limited, a division of Hull Blyth (Gh) Limited, a registered shipping company in Ghana.The company is responsible for the processing of documents for the discharge of cargo from vessels. It then allows importers to ship their cargo and pay the freight charges later, on the arrival of the cargo at their destination.

Sam-Amoah was the officer who ensured that the importers paid their freight before the Release Order was issued to enable them to clear their goods.According to the prosecutor, Sam-Amoah allegedly connived with Quansah and contacted some importers whose goods had arrived to pay for the freight directly to him (Sam-Amoah) and sometimes through Quansah for the release of the goods.

However, after collecting the freight charges, Sam-Amoah failed to pay them into the accounts of the company. The deal was uncovered during a recent audit at the company which revealed that 13 companies cleared their containers between 2002 and 2003, without paying the freight charges totalling $39,000.

Records at the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority indicated that Sam-Amoah endorsed all the Release Orders which included that of Bismark Agyepong Teyrich Enterprise of Accra, with number 0009847 and issued on May 22, 2003, Nayab Enterprise of Accra, with number 0008521 and issued on February 2,2003.

Others were Geoka Enterprise Limited, with number 0004943 and issued on April 4, 2003, Yaa Mansah with number 0005039 and issued on April 9, 2003, Samora Enterprise Limited with number 0000856 and issued on January 1, 2003, and Primento Enterprise ( no number).

The rest were Joseph Osei Ahenkorah with number 0000638, Walset Company Limited with number 0001995 and O.K.C.Enterprise with number 0003247.The accused, according to the prosecutor, admitted the offence in his caution statement after his arrest while witnesses invited by the police had all confirmed they paid for the freight.