Confident trickster jailed for deceiving police officers

A 21-year-old self-styled businessman, Paul Asante, has been sentenced by the Bawku Circuit court, presided over by Mr. Alex Owusu Ofori to serve a one-year jail term for deceiving police officers.

Asante, also known as Nana Paul Adams, pleaded guilty to the charge of deceit and was accordingly convicted on his own plea.

Inspector Andrews A. Yirenkyi told the court that on March 13, the accused, who claimed to be a businessman, lodged a complaint that he had been robbed by two men he requested to assist him trace a friend at Pusiga.

He explained that the accused stated that the two men took away his hand bag that contained ¢46.8 million cash, a cheque of ¢12 million to be cashed at the Bessfa Rural Bank, an unspecified amount of Euros, a mobile phone, valued at $470 and two wrist watches.

He said in the course of investigating the complaint, the police contacted the Bessfa bank at Garu to ascertain whether the accused has an account but it was proved that he was an imposter.

Insp. Yirenkyi said the police then contacted their counterparts at Garu, where it was also revealed that the accused had made a similar complaint on March 4 with the name Nana Paul Adams.

At Garu, the accused, who has won the sympathy of the police took advantage of it to steal a police officer's mobile phone but was arrested and granted bail.

He jumped bail and resurfaced at Bawku to react his tricks on the police.

Asante was identified by the Police at Garu, where he admitted that he had deceived the police with his complaints and blamed evil forces for his predicament.

Source: GNA