Agriculture engineer jailed for defrauding Navrongo Businessman 

The Circuit Court in Accra has sentenced a 43-year-old Agricultural Engineer, Abraham Asudam, to 36 months imprisonment after he was found guilty of defrauding a relative under false pretences.

The conviction, delivered by His Honour Judge Isaac Addo on Tuesday, follows a full criminal trial, which commenced in 2024. Asudam was charged under Section 131(1) of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29), for defrauding by false pretence.

Prosecuting officer ASP Maxwell Frimpong, assisted by ASP Amoah, told the court that the incident took place in December 2020.

The complainant, George Asudam, a businessman based at Navrongo in the Upper East Region, was lured by the accused into transferring GH¢150,000.00 for the purported purchase of a tipper truck.

According to the prosecution, Abraham Asudam falsely represented himself as a vehicle dealer with international connections, claiming he could procure a tipper truck from Belgium through his business partners.

On the strength of this assurance, the complainant transferred the funds into the accused’s GCB Bank account.

The accused subsequently issued a receipt from a fictitious company, Power Vehicle Innovation Company (PVI) with a fabricated chassis number (WDSB620271K163163), assuring the complainant the vehicle would arrive in Ghana within a month.

However, months passed with no delivery and efforts to reach the accused proved futile as he went into hiding and cut off all communication.

Investigations revealed that Abraham Asudam had no affiliations with any vehicle dealership and that all documents he provided were fraudulent.

He was arrested following a formal complaint and charged accordingly. Investigators were able to retrieve GH¢20,000.00 from him, which was retained for evidential purposes.

Judge Addo, in passing sentence, noted that although the accused was a first-time offender and had spent time in lawful custody while awaiting sentencing, he had failed to refund the outstanding GH¢30,000 despite repeated adjournments granted by the court for that purpose.

“In the interest of justice and deterrence, the court finds it necessary to impose a custodial sentence,” Judge Addo stated.

He sentenced Asudam to serve 36 months in prison and ordered him to refund the outstanding amount of GH¢30,000.00 to the complainant.

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