A 36-year-old Susu Operator has appeared before an Adentan Circuit Court on charges of stealing GH 995,338 from his employers. Gabriel Tsianie Tetteh has been accused with forgery of other documents, theft, and deceiving by false pretence on two counts. Tetteh has disputed the charges, and the court, presided over by Mrs Sedinam Awo Balokah, has granted him bail in the amount of GH 1.5 million with four sureties, two of which must be justified. The prosecutor, Police Chief Inspector Maxwell Lanyo, informed the court that the complainant (name withheld) was an Ogbojo businessman.
The complainant was also the owner and director of a multi-company, according to the prosecution, which included Universal Susu, Universal Ice, Front Street Properties, and Universal Rock Builders. Tetteh was hired as the marketing manager of the complainant's company, Front Street Properties, which deals in land in March 2021. According to the prosecution, Tetteh was tasked with advertising and issuing receipts to consumers who acquire and pay for their portions of land. According to the complaint, the accused individual faithfully performed his tasks and was later promoted to General Manager of Universal Rock Builders Company, one of the complainant's enterprises that also specialised in the construction of dwellings for clients.
According to prosecution, Tetteh also became the Public Relations Officer of the group of companies. It said the complainant asked Tetteh to hand over all the receipts booklets in his possession to the new Marketing manager and manageress of Front Street Properties. Prosecution said Tetteh handed over as directed but kept “two serial receipts booklets and also printed four un- serial receipt booklets bearing the Front Street properties names and issuing same to prospective customers who had made payments to the accused person.” It said Tetteh gave his personal account to some of the customers instead of the company account and they made various payment into it. The prosecution said during the month of August 2022, the accused person resigned from the company and handed over some receipt booklets which he had kept and was still issuing to customers who had not finished paying for their land. It said the accused person continued to keep the money he had collected from those customers. On December 31, 2022, the complainant asked all his staff to bring their receipts in their possession to him and asked them not to receive any money from customers until he directed them to do so.
It said when the complainant went through the receipt books, he saw that two receipt booklets did not have serial numbers like the others. Prosecution said the complainant found out that the receipt booklets without serial numbers were issued by the accused person. It said indentures issued to some of the customers had been forged by way of signing instead of thumb printing them. According to the prosecutor, the complainant caused the arrest of the accused person and two serial and un serial receipt booklets were retrieved from him. When an audit was conducted, it came to light that Tetteh has embezzled GH₵ 995, 338.97. Prosecution said when the accused person was cautioned by the Police, he admitted the offence and stated that it was the complainant who asked him to thumb print some of the documents and the receipt booklets and issue them to customers although he had resigned from the company.
