By Morkporkpor Anku
Accra, Sept. 18, GNA – An Accra Circuit Court has sentenced Gabriel Gyamerah Sarpong, a Staff of the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, to 15 months imprisonment for fraud.
Sarpong had collected more than GHS200,000 from illegal miners on the pretext of giving it to Mr George Mireku Duker, deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources.
Appearing in court last Friday, Sarpong pleaded guilty to defrauding by false pretences.
The court presided over by Mrs Evelyn Asamoah thus convicted Sarpong on his own plea.
Sarpong, however, denied the charge of falsely pretending to be a Public Officer.
The court, therefore, adjourned that matter to October 12 and ordered the Prosecution to file their disclosures in respect of the charge.
Mr Muda Ade Lawal, defence counsel, in praying for a non-custodial sentence, said Sarpong was a good citizen and an IT specialist until the devil pushed him to the vice.
“If given custodial sentence he will be mixed with hardened criminals and will come out worse,” the counsel submitted.
According to him, the convict was sober and he had regretted his actions, hence his admission of guilt.
“Tamper justice with mercy to hand him a non-custodial sentence,” he prayed the court.
The Defence Counsel explained that the convict had a wife and two children and if given custodial sentence, his wife and children also would suffer.
Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Evans Kesse told the court that Mr Mireku-Duker reported the matter to the police.
He said sometime in December, 2021, Sarpong contacted a now witness in the case to meet so they could talk about a business deal.
The following week, the witness met the convict and told him that the business was about mining and since the witness had been to various mining sites in the country, he could best execute the task.
Later, Sarpong called the witness on phone and told him that the Deputy Minister had authorised that the witness could mobilise his men to operate.
The Prosecution said the convict then gave a fake MTN number (0244916900) as the Deputy Minister’s contact number, through which he could call when he needed him.
The witness then mobilised his men and went to Obuasi, met the Police and called the MTN number Sarpong gave to him as the Deputy Minister’s.
The Prosecution said Sarpong responded pretending to be the Deputy Minister, and told the Obuasi Divisional Commander to offer the Team any assistance it needed.
The Prosecutor said the witness after their operations realised more than two hundred thousand Ghana cedis (GHS200,000) and sent it to Sarpong who had impersonated the Deputy Minister.
ASP Kesse said the witness after operating at Obuasi decided to proceed to Manso Nkwanta for another operation and met the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), where the he told the MCE about his mission there and tried reaching out to the Deputy Minister on the same number given to him by Sarpong but there was no response.
The Manso Nkwanta MCE then alerted the witness that it would be in his own interest to go to Accra to meet with the Deputy Minister and verify if the Deputy Minister had really sanctioned their task.
On September 13, 2022, the Witness met with the Deputy Minister and disclosed that he had been working at the mining sites on his authorisation.
The Deputy Minister, however, denied knowledge of it and sent for Sarpong, who after questioning was handed over to the Police.
Sarpong admitted to the offence and explained that he used part of the money he received from the witness to purchase a black Elantra saloon vehicle and invested part in his building at Amasaman.
GNA