A former sales assistant, Alfred Mensah, has been convicted by the Adentan Circuit Court after he admitted to stealing GH¢353,471.50 from his employer, claiming he needed the money to get married, in what later turned out to be a wider fraudulent scheme involving several other individuals.
Mensah, who pleaded guilty to the charge of stealing, was ordered by the court to refund the full amount to his employer and was additionally fined GH¢12,000. In default of payment of the fine, he will serve a two-year prison sentence.
The court heard that Mensah was not acting alone. Several other individuals, including a trader and a pastor, were also dragged before the court for their alleged roles in the case. They were charged with abetment of stealing and receiving stolen property, while others faced charges for dishonestly benefiting from the stolen funds.
Prosecutors told the court that the complainant, a businessman dealing in plumbing materials operating in Lakeside and Kantamanto, had employed Mensah for about seven years before the incident came to light.
According to the prosecution, financial discrepancies began to surface in the business between 2024 and 2025, although the source of the losses was initially unclear.
The matter escalated on June 17, 2025, when the businessman arrested Mensah after a partner reported that he had taken goods worth GH¢56,000 without payment. He was subsequently handed over to police at the Lakeside Community 8 Police Station.
During interrogation, Mensah reportedly confessed and claimed he had transferred the stolen funds to some of his co-accused after telling them he intended to marry. He further alleged that they promised to help him find a wife.
Investigators later uncovered a more elaborate scheme in which Mensah was allegedly deceived into sending additional money after being told that the supposed bride was seriously ill and required medical treatment abroad, including a kidney-related condition that demanded urgent attention in South Africa.
Under this arrangement, Mensah is said to have transferred the entire GH¢353,471.50 through a mobile money account linked to one of the accused persons.
Further police work led to the arrest of several accomplices, some of whom were allegedly identified as beneficiaries of the stolen funds. One of the suspects reportedly helped investigators recover GH¢46,000, which has since been retrieved as part of ongoing efforts to trace the remaining money.
While Mensah has been convicted, the other accused persons have all pleaded not guilty and have been granted bail, each with substantial financial sureties as the case continues.
