Couple in court over GH¢1.6m fraud

The Accra Circuit Court Nine has sentenced a couple to a fine of 500 penalty units each, equivalent to GH¢6,000, for conspir­ing to dupe one Mr Godwin Kwame Avadu Donkor of GH¢1,663,200.

Vera Nartey, also known as Akosua Kyerewaah and her husband, Nosah Ekhator, were also ordered by the court pre­sided over by Mr Samuel Bright Acquah, to refund the remaining amount before two months.

They have so far paid GH¢700,000.

Mr Acquah in passing sen­tence considered the fact that the woman and her husband had been in police cells for three weeks, adding that the offence conspiracy and defrauding by false pretense, was second degree felony, thus in addition to a fine, they could additionally be handed a less punishment, according to the law.

The couple were remanded in police custody for a double sale of their four-bedroom property in East Legon to two people.

After going through a full trial, they had their sentence deferred to October 2, 2023, by the court.

The two, charged with con­spiracy to commit crime and defrauding by false pretenses, pleaded not guilty.

They were earlier admitted to bail in the sum of GH¢1.5 million each when the trial began in October 2022.

As part of their bail condi­tions, they were required to pro­vide three sureties, two of whom had to be civil servants earning at least GH¢2,000 per month.

According to the court, each of the sureties should be justi­fied.

Inspector Daniel Danku earlier told the court that Mr Donkor, the complainant, was a business­man living in Adenta, Accra.

He said Vera was a business­woman and Ekahtor, also a businessman, both living at East Legon.

Inspector Danku said Mr Donkor contacted the convicts in January 2022 to buy a house for his family.

Vera and Ekahtor told Donkor that they had a four-bedroom storey building and that if he paid $290,000, they would sell it to him.

The prosecutor said the con­victs took Donkor to East Legon during the same month and showed him the building, which was on sale.

After inspecting the property, Mr Donkor expressed interest and bargained with them.

On January 28, 2022, Mr Donkor paid GH¢1,663,200 to them, the prosecution said.

Inspector Danku said after Donkor made the payment, the convicts failed to hand over the property to him, instead resold it to one Emmanuel.

The complainant became alarmed and reported the matter to the police on October 2, 2022.

This led to the arrest of Vera and Ekahtor the next day when they admitted the offence.

The prosecution said the couple promised to refund Mr Donkor’s money but failed to do so.

Police investigations revealed that the accused persons resold the house to one Emmanuel.

Mr Lord Delvin Essandoh, their counsel in pleading for mitigation said they had already refunded more than GH¢200,000 and about to pay additional GH¢500,000.

He said they were the bread­winners of their family and asked the judge to alter justice on the platform of mercy.

Inspector Danku in opposition said the offence was a second degree one and its gravity and the monies involved required that they faced the full rigours of the law-custodial sentence.

However, he agreed with their lawyer that the convicts were first time offenders when the judge asked for confirmation. —GNA

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