An Accra Circuit Court on Thursday sentenced a fake policeman to five years imprisonment for swindling his lover of GH¢62,200 under the pretext of using the money to settle his medical bills.
Narh Coffie, 47, told his lover, Ellen Nyarko, a businesswoman, that he had an accident and needed the money to pay for his medical expenses but disappeared once he had the money.
He was found guilty on the charge of defrauding by false pretence and sentenced accordingly.
In addition to his five-year sentence, he was ordered by the court, presided over by Mr Kwabena Kodua Obiri Yeboah to refund the GH¢62,200 and a compensation of GH¢5,000 to the complainant.
Prosecuting, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Emmanuel Nyamekye told the court that Coffie, who was a policeman, met the victim at Tudu in August 2021.
He said that Coffie dressed in civilian attire and holding a handcuff introduced himself to Ellen as a police officer stationed at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Headquarters, but currently on attachment at the Airport Police Station.
According to ASP Nyamekye, he subsequently proposed love to Ellen who accepted.
“Complainant thinking she was dealing with a police officer, exchanged contact with the accused and started an intimate relationship with him,” he told the court.
In the course of their relationship, ASP Nyamekye said Coffie informed Ellen that he was involved in an accident on the Achimota-Circle road and had been rushed to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi for treatment.
As part of the ruse, Coffie made Ellen speak to a woman on the phone who claimed to be the mother of Coffie and had just returned from the United States of America (USA), ASP Nyamekye said.
He added that the supposed mother pleaded with Ellen to send money for Coffie’s medical treatment, promising to pay back in dollars.
Coffie further made Ellen speak to a man on the phone purporting to be Coffie’s father, who confirmed that indeed his son had been involved in an accident.
ASP Nyamekye said Ellen then sent an amount of GH¢62,200.00 in tranches to Coffie’s contact numbers with the expectation that Coffie’s mother would repay her in dollars.
After Coffie received the money, he ceased communication with Ellen, who tried in vain to reach him.
Ellen then lodged a complaint with the police leading to Coffie’s arrest.
BY NANA BENTSI ODURO
