Jessica Oforiwa, a 35-year-old caterer and hairdresser, has been jailed for 60 months (five years) for stealing GH₵81,060 from GCB Bank customers using cloned cheques.
A cloned cheque is a fraudulent replica of a genuine cheque, often with the same cheque number.
At the court, Oforiwa was convicted on seven charges, including abetment of crime and stealing, with the sentences running concurrently.
Her accomplices include Dawda Sawdido, Mohammed Muktar, Fuseini Saeed Ibrahim, Felix Mensah, Lawrence Quarshie, and Philip Ansah.
During sentencing, the court acknowledged Oforiwa’s status as a first-time offender and a mother of two but emphasised that her actions were premeditated. Oforiwa played a key role in aiding the other fugitives in misappropriating funds from the bank.
Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Seth Frimpong, who led the prosecution, urged the court to impose a deterrent sentence due to the growing number of similar crimes, which he said were harming financial institutions and destabilising the economy.
The prosecution revealed that in 2022, GCB Bank discovered that eight cheques had been cloned from its customers’ accounts, resulting in a total withdrawal of GH₵81,060.
Victims included Rejoice Emekor Senezah, who had GH₵12,000 stolen from her account on January 10, 2022, and Felcon Electrical Enterprise, who lost GH₵47,460 on April 13, 2022. Investigations showed that the cloned cheques had been issued to Oforiwa’s company, Jesnat Cook Company.
Oforiwa and her accomplices used chemical methods to erase account details and signatures on the original cheques, making them appear legitimate to the bank.
The group’s fraudulent activity included several successful withdrawals.
For example, Dawda Sawdido withdrew GH₵4,700; Mohammed Muktar made two withdrawals totalling GH₵9,700; Fuseini Saeed Ibrahim took GH5,000; and Felix Mensah withdrew GH47,460.
On August 1, 2022, Philip Ansah and Livingston Ankomah used a cloned cheque to withdraw GH₵4,700 from the Kaneshie branch of GCB Bank and attempted to withdraw an additional GH₵3,000 from the Kwame Nkrumah Circle branch. Their suspicious actions led to their arrest.
Ankomah confessed and was later imprisoned for his role in the scheme.
Oforiwa was arrested on December 24, 2022, by the Kwahu Nkwatia Police. During questioning, she admitted to using the Jesnat Cook cheques to steal GH₵81,060 and suggested that her boyfriend, Samuel Gyane Nyanteh, might have been involved.
The judge, after the verdict, urged financial institutions to strengthen their ICT systems and train staff, particularly tellers, to scrutinise cheques and other financial instruments thoroughly to prevent such fraud.
The court further emphasised the importance of safeguarding shareholder and depositor interests to maintain public trust.