GH¢1m fraud: Fake businessman jailed 18 years
A 55-year-old man who posed as a Marketing officer of the West Africa Monetary Agency (WAMA) and successfully defrauded a retired UK lecturer of GH¢1,000,000 on the pretext of investing his money has been sentenced to 18 years in prison by the High Court in Accra.
The convict, Samuel Nana Mensah, had pleaded not guilty to eight counts of conspiring with one other, defrauding by false pretence, possessing forged notes, possession of paper and money laundering.
He was however found guilty by the court presided over by Justice Lydia Osei Marfo, after the prosecution, led by Winnifred Sarpong, had proven to the court through witnesses that the convict committed the crime.
There was no show of remorse when Mensah was asked if he had anything to say before the judgment was pronounced.
On the counts of defrauding, 55-year-old Mensah was sentenced to 18 years in prison.
On the count of possession of forged notes and money laundering, he was sentenced to 10 years each. The sentences are to run concurrently, hence he will spend 18 years behind bars in hard labour.
He was, however, discharged on the charge of possessing paper.
Delivering the judgment, Justice Marfo ordered that all the monies and properties found to be proceeds of Mensah’s crime should be retrieved and given to the retired lecturer.
Brief facts
In August 2019 the complainant came into the country from the UK with the intention of relocating since he had just retired.
While in the country, one Ericson Arthur introduced Mensah aka Samuel Kwaku Romeo to the complainant as someone who worked with (WAMA) and could help him invest his money.
Mensah introduced himself to the complainant as a marketing officer for WAMA and promised the complainant a return of 50 percent if the complainant would invest GH¢1,000, 000 and above in WAMA.
Tranches
Relying on false representations, the complainant paid in three tranches a total amount of GH¢1,000,000 to the accused person for investment purposes.
Subsequently, the complainant sensed that the accused person could be a fraudster and demanded his money back.
The accused person went into hiding following which the complainant reported the matter to the police.
In December 2019, based on intelligence, Arthur was arrested from his hideout. Mensah went into hiding and was arrested in June 2021 upon a tip-off.
During the arrest of Mensah, the police found in his possession some forged dollar notes as well as papers that resemble papers used in the making of notes.