Man, 27, jailed for forgery
A Kumasi Circuit Court, presided over by Ms Patricia Amponsah, has convicted a 27-year roofing sheets agent of DBS Industries Ltd, Jones Addai, for forging a warranty certificate of the company for a customer.
Addai, who pleaded guilty to the charge of forgery of document, was sentenced on his own plea and given a one year jail term in hard labour.
In sentencing him, the judge, Ms Amponsah, took into the consideration the plea for mitigation by the counsel for the accused who pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy and show compassion to his client.
According to his lawyer, Mr Abu Bonsra, the convict had shown remorse through his demeanour and comportment throughout the trial and pleaded guilty on his first appearance and did not waste the court’s time.
Aside from that, he said the convict was known to the law and was very young and could still be useful to society.
Sentence
The presiding judge initially sentenced the convict to 12 months imprisonment but upon further pleas from the convict who knelt down in the dock during the process and his lawyer, Ms Amponsah revised the sentence from 12 months to one year.
The facts of the case, as presented to the court by Chief Inspector Benedicta Sowah, were that the convict was an agent of the company and on February 2, 2021, a witness in the case contracted him to roof his house for him at Abourntem.
According to the prosecution, he gave the client an estimate of GH¢27,000.00 out of which the client paid GH¢26,000.00 with the promise to pay the rest upon completion of the work.
Ms Sowah said on April 7, 2021 after the installation of the roofing, the client paid the balance and requested a warranty from the convict since DBS gives a 20-year warranty on all its colorlink products.
She said the convict forged a warranty certificate purported to have been signed by the manufacturer, the General Manager and Audit Manager of DBS Industries Ltd.
On April 12, 2021, she said the client visited the offices of the company to authenticate the certificate of warranty and it was there that the certificate was detected to be fake.
A complaint was lodged leading to the arrest of the convict.