Source: newsthemegh.com
After receiving a 15-year prison term for conspiracy to commit theft, aiding criminal activity, and money laundering, a businessman confronted the Circuit court judge in an aggressive manner.
Frank Kwesi Obeng allegedly inquired, “Please, do you know me somewhere, why have you given me a 15-year prison sentence,” as soon as the verdict was pronounced.
Obeng then removed his shirt and approached the judge in an aggressive manner.
But thanks to the prompt action of the prosecutor and a court warrant officer, Mrs. Evelyn Asamoah, the trial judge, was led to her chambers.
Obeng was then led bare-chested and without his sandals from the courthouse.
Many supporters who flocked to the court also protested the decision, expressing their skepticism about the complainant’s assertions.
His wife Joyce Safowaa, a co-conspirator, was also in the dock and was also found guilty of conspiring to steal, aiding in the commission of a crime, and stole GHC 712 229 from Mavis Toffan, the complainant.
Safowaa yelled, “God, I’m dreaming” as she sobbed, upon learning that she would be sentenced to 10 years in prison. and appeared incredulous as she sat on the chair.
At the conclusion of the trial, the trial judge, Mrs. Evelyn Asamoah, ruled that the complainant should receive all of the real estate and a Toyota Venza that were allegedly obtained with the proceeds of the crime.
Additionally, it mandated that the complainant receive access to the goods that belonged to the inmates in a shop. Once more, the complainant is entitled to her GHC712, 229 back from the defendants.
Mavis Toffan, the complainant, is a businesswoman who lives in Accra, according to the prosecution team, led by Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Emmanuel Haligah.
The complainant, according to ASP Haligah, is the owner of MAVOBED Enterprise, which sells baby and children’s accessories and clothing. She possessed a sizable storefront in Okaishie, as well as a warehouse behind it where she stored the majority of her inventory.
The prosecution said that although the plaintiff typically imported products from China, she occasionally received delivery from her fellow Okaishie traffickers.
According to the prosecutor, Joyce Safowaa and Frank Kwesi Obeng lived together in Accra and were lovers. In addition, the prosecution claimed that Safowaa had been working for the complainant for the previous 13 years as a salesperson in her shop.
The prosecutor claims that Safowaa earned the complainant’s trust and confidence to the point that whenever the complainant traveled to China on business, she trusted Safowaa with the keys to both the warehouse and the store. The transfer of items from the warehouse to the store is also the responsibility of Safowaa.
According to the prosecution, Obeng persuaded Safowaa to steal from the complainant during the course of their romantic relationship in 2013 so that they might open their own store and engage in the same line of work. According to this arrangement, the prosecutor testified before the court, Obeng rented a shop in Weija to carry out their plan.
Safowaa had easy access to the items since she was in charge of the keys to the complainant’s warehouse and store. The Prosecution claims that Safowaa stole the products with the help of Obeng and used them to stock their shop in Weija.
Anytime the complainant was out from the store, the prosecutor claimed, Safowaa would rapidly pack large quantities of products from the store and warehouse and transfer them to a head porter only known as B2, who would then transport them to Obeng in a waiting BMW saloon car at Rawlings Park. The merchandise were subsequently driven to their store in Weija by Obeng.
The two repeated the act until their store in Weija was completely full, and then refilled it when they ran out of merchandise.
According to the prosecution, Safowaa occasionally placed orders for products in the complainant’s name but routed them to their Weija business. After running the Weija store for a while, Obeng told Safowaa that he wanted to shift the operation to Kasoa because business was not going as well as he had hoped.
The prosecution informed the court that in 2015, Obeng rented a second store at Kasoa for GHC 45,000.00 over a nine-year period with some of the money he received from the sale of the complainant’s items.
The pair then shut down the Weija store and moved the merchandise into the Kasoa business.
According to the prosecution, Obeng once more utilized some of the money to purchase a Toyota Venza car with the license plate GX 1061-14 for GHC 45,000.00 in order to make transporting the stolen goods easier. Obeng paid GHC10,500 for a block of land at McCarthy Hill using some of the funds made available to him.
According to the prosecution, the complainant was unaware of the theft until she noticed her company was rapidly losing money and was accruing debt in 2016.
She started looking into the reasons behind her company’s falling profit margin and debt accumulation in January 2018.
She discovered she owed GHC 600,000 after taking stock of the warehouse and business. After she reported Safowaa and Obeng to the police, they confessed to the offenses in their investigation caution statement when they were questioned.
The prosecution claimed that the complainant directed police to the couple’s store and showed them GHC80,000 worth of products, some of which included the complainant’s name stamped.
The complainant was able to support her theft claim with receipts for the products, but the pair was unable to provide any proof of purchase documentation. The merchandise at the Kasoa store was then inventoried.
According to the audit report, Safowaa stole products valued GHC712, 229 between 2013 and 2018.