Musician sentenced for posing as a soldier
Accra (Greater Accra) 14 March 2000
An
Accra Circuit Tribunal on Monday sentenced to five years' imprisonment in hard
labour, Godfried Tega, a musician, who posed as a Captain in the Ghana Army and
went about defrauding the unsuspecting public.
Tega, 28, pleaded guilty to falsely
pretending to be a public officer and defrauding by false pretences, but
pleaded not guilty to stealing.
The tribunal chaired by Mrs Elizabeth
Anderson Yebuah had heard that Tega has been a long time impostor, citing a
February 14 incidence in which he told workers at Aburi Botanical Gardens that
he is a Captain in the Ghana Army and a staff of the president's security.
Tega is said to have succeeded in
collecting 2.4 million cedis from one Mr Isaac Darko, under the pretext of
securing a Canadian visa for him.
He also collected three million cedis
from Major Mark Dogbe of the Ghana Army under the pretext of selling a car to
him.
The prosecution said the accused
defrauded Captain Ennin of Burma Camp of two million cedis which was meant to
secure an American visa for the victim's brother.
The
accused stole a Daewoo Lamans saloon car, valued at nine million cedis,
property of one Mr Ato Paitoo, the court heard.
During police investigations, Tega
admitted the offences and said he was forced by the devil to commit the crime
GRi../