No Mercy For The Cripple

A physically-challenged National Youth Employment Scheme (NYEP) employee, Emmanuel Sackey, has been put before an Accra Circuit Court for defrauding and forging documents. The 35-year-old man, who doubles as a Zoomlion Supervisor with ten NYEP personnel working under him, has been fined GH¢6,000 or in default serve three months’ imprisonment term. The accused who was on Friday put before an Accra Circuit court presided over by Mrs. Faustina Mary Addington pleaded guilty to four of the charges against him and was therefore convicted and sentenced on his own plea. The judge ordered that the accused be allowed to sign a bond to be of good behaviour. Prosecutor Chief Inspector Iddrisu told the court that in February 2010, the convict managed to steal some cheque books of some of the people working under him and cashed an unspecified sum of money without their knowledge in August 2010. The complainants in the case, Lamisi Hemes and Isaac Andoh, later realised that someone had cashed money from the cheque books they had been using without their notice. They hurriedly reported the case to the NYEP and investigations revealed that the accused had been using the cheque books of the complainants to cash various sums. Prosecutor Chief Inspector Iddrisu told the court that the convict during interrogation admitted to the offence. However, defence counsel Noah Asimany prayed the court to have mercy on the convict as he would not commit such a crime again. Nevertheless, the presiding judge fined the convict with GH¢6,000 or in default, spend three months in prison. Immediately the convict was ordered to get out of the docket, he was charged with another case of defrauding by false pretences where he pleaded not guilty to four charges of the said offences leveled against him. Emmanuel Sackey was charged with two charges of forging of documents and two charges of stealing. The convict pleaded not guilty and the court granted him a GH¢4,000 bail with two sureties. Prosecutor Chief Inspector Iddrisu informed the court that the convict forged receipts and documents of Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) to defraud several people who had gone to the Okaikoi North Sub-Metro District Area to collect business operating permits. The victims later found out that the receipts issued to them by the accused at the Assembly were all fake. The accused was granted a GH¢4,000 bail with two sureties and the case was adjourned to March 22, 2011.