Salesman in court for embezzling employer’s GHC1.4m

A 25-year-old salesman has appeared before an Adentan Circuit Court charged with funnelling GHC1,491,282 from his employer’s mobile money accounts.

Richard Okai, aka Kobby, pleaded not guilty to seven counts of stealing after being handed an amended charge sheet and facts in court on Monday.

Okai was accused of embezzling funds from December 2022 to February 2024 and transferring them from the company account to his personal account.

According to police, Okai allegedly used some of the money to buy land in Katamanso, put GHC7,000 in his personal bank account and GHC2,000 in his mobile money account, and used a portion of the funds to wager bets.

The court presided over by Mrs Sedinam Awo Kwadam admitted Okai to his former bail of GHC2,000,000 cedis with four sureties, two of whom had to be justified.

The matter has been adjourned to September 17, 2024, for the Case Management Conference.

Mariam Boakye Yiadom, a prosecutor from the Attorney General’s Department, notified the court that they had amended the charge and fact sheet and would like to substitute them.

The State Attorney therefore prayed to the court for Okai’s plea to be retaken.

The case before the court was that the complainant, whose name is withheld, is a businesswoman from Kisseman.

The prosecution said that the complainant owned a big cosmetic shop in Madina Market.

The court heard that Okai stays at UN in Madina and supervises the shop’s mobile money transactions; he only receives Momo from customers and then transfers the funds to the company’s merchant number.

The court was told that the complainant trusted Okai to the point that she failed to “even go back to her phone to check whether the accused person was doing the right thing or not.”

The prosecution said the complainant, however, began incurring losses in her business.

On February 20, 2022, and 2024, it was noticed that a lot of customers were paying for goods with Momo on the company’s mobile money account.

The complainant’s daughter, who is also a witness in the case, suspected Okai of foul play and collected the company’s cell phone to investigate.

She discovered that Okai had moved GHC1,697 from the company’s account to his personal account.

According to the prosecution, the complainant was informed of Okai’s conduct, and she and her daughter collected his mobile phone, discovering several transactions from the company’s account to Okai’s account.

The matter was reported to the police, and Okai admitted to the crime after being cautioned.

The prosecution said the police also requested a statement from Vodafone, now Telecel, and MTN regarding Okai’s account, and it was discovered that he (Okai) embezzled GHC1,491,282 from the company’s account between December 2022 and February 2024.

It said that Okai used some of the money to buy land in Katamanso, placed GHC7,000 in his personal bank account at Fidelity, and GHC2,000 in his Momo account.

He also used some of the money to wager bets