In a surprising development, a 29-year-old mobile banker, Grace Addy, has been sentenced to six years in prison by an Adentan Circuit court for embezzling a substantial amount of GHC162,700 belonging to customers of a rural bank. The court found that Grace had collected funds from customers and diverted them to various mobile money accounts for her personal gain and to facilitate her travels abroad, rather than using the funds for the bank's benefit.
Grace faced charges of forgery of documents and two counts of stealing, to which she pleaded guilty, leading to her sentencing. She received two years for the forgery charge, three years for stealing GHC20,000 belonging to a customer, and six years for stealing GHC142,700. It was specified that these sentences would run concurrently.
Chief Inspector A. Fosu, who led the prosecution, revealed that the bank's manager reported the incident after an audit in December 2023 uncovered Grace's illicit activities. Subsequent investigations revealed that Grace had been collecting money from the bank's customers between January and December 2023, but instead of depositing the funds, she transferred them to other mobile money accounts for personal use. Furthermore, she forged payment receipts to create the false impression of compliance, inflating amounts in some instances.
During questioning, Grace confessed to the theft, admitting that she had given the money to certain individuals in exchange for assistance in facilitating her travel abroad. However, she failed to disclose the identities of these individuals to the police, claiming that she intended to repay the customers after reaching her foreign destination.
The court, presided over by Mrs. Sedinam Awo Balokah, deemed the sentences fitting for Grace's crimes. This case serves as a reminder of the importance of upholding trust and integrity in financial institutions and the severe consequences of breaching that trust.
-By Mavis Lomortey | Ghana Crimes
