Fake Chief Jailed 25 year

A 60-year-old man,who styled himself as a chief and impersonated a dead man to defraud others, has been sentenced to 25 years' imprisonment by an Accra circuit court.

The convict, Nana Gyamfi, alias Kwaw Fynn-Prah, defrauded an Accra businessman and the International Central Gospel Church (ICGC) of a total of ¢600 million on the pretext of selling houses to them.

He collected ¢500 million and ¢100 million from Mr Robert Kenneth Asante,the businessman and the ICGC respectively.

However, it was later found out that he wanted to sell the same uncompleted house situated at Dzorwulu and belonging to Kwaw Fynn-Prah, the deceased,to his victims.

His accomplice, Kofi Abass, 32, was also sentenced to seven years' imprisonment for his role in the deal. In the first case, Nana and Abass were found guilty on two counts of conspiracy and defrauding by false pretence and the court, presided over by Ms Wilhemina Hammond, sentenced them to 15 years and seven year's imprisonment respectively.

The same court convicted Nana to 10 years'imprisonment on August 17, 2005 in the case involving the ICGC.

The judge remarked that Nana used his age and splendid traditional dress as a 'chief' to defraud the victims.

According to the facts of the cases as presented by Deputy Superintendent of Police,Mr Abichab Boye,the businessman lived in Dzorwulu and wanted a house for his son, who wanted to return home after working with the United Nations.

He said the man told some friends about his intention and in August,last year,Abass,a caretaker of an uncompleted house at Dzorwulu belonging to the deceased,having heard about that informed a witness that,the house was for sale.

Mr Boye said Nana posed as Kwaw Fynn-Prah and arranged with Alex Sarfo and Patrick Agyemang, both accomplices, who are on the run,to make available to him an uncompleted house at Gbawe and agreed to confirm that the house belonged to him.

The prosecutor said when the businessman went to the Gbawe house,the four people acted together as if Nana, who had dressed like a chief,was, in fact,a chief and succeeded in defrauding him of ¢500 million on the pretext of selling the uncompleted house at Dzorwulu to him.

The businessman,he said, issued a Standard Charted Bank cheque to Nana, who,in order to cash the money,forged a Voter's I.D.card bearing the name of the deceased by putting his picture on it and using it as a proof.

DSP Boye said Nana used the same modus operadi to collect ¢100 million from the ICGC on the pretext of selling the house at Dzorwulu to the church.

In a related development,the same court sentenced Frank Kulinzo,a Nigerian, to four years'imprisonment for defrauding a woman of $3,800 on the pretext of selling a car to her.

Frank, according to the prosecutor,signed an undertaking for having received the money from the complainant but later denied authorship of the document.

Police forensic experts,however,proved the document to have been authored by Frank