Court jails woman for stealing mobile phone

The Winneba District Magistrate’s Court has sentenced a 23-year-old unemployed woman to six months in imprisonment in hard labour for stealing one iPhone valued at GH¢1,200.00 and using it to cash GH¢13,000.00 from the mobile money account belonging to a receptionist at Windy Lodge in the Effutu Municipality.

The convict, Priscilla Gyedu, alias Maame Adwoa, pleaded guilty with an explanation but the court presided over by Mr John Kweku Josiah-Koffie, sentenced her on her own plea.

Narrating the facts of the case to the court, the Prosecutor, Detective Police Inspector Dorinda Azumah, said Mr Williams Asare a receptionist at the Windy Lodge is the complainant while Gyedu resides at Kasoa.

According to the prosecutor, sometime in April 2021, Gyedu was employed as a receptionist and was working with the complainant and they became friends.

Detective Inspector Azumah, said Gyedu asked the complainant to buy her airtime, of which the complainant tried through electronic cash from his mobile phone, but it did not go through due to a network problem.

The complainant later revealed his secret pin code to her, the prosecutor stated.

The prosecutor said on Saturday, September 25, last year, Gyedu borrowed the complainant’s iPhone to make calls but bolted with it.

The accused succeeded to withdraw an amount of GH¢13,000.00 from the complainant’s Ecobank account through his mobile money account and went into hiding after she had destroyed the phone and threw it away to avoid being tracked by the complainant.

On Tuesday, January 16, 2022, the accused person was involved in a similar case in Kumasi and was handed over to Kumasi-Asokwa Police.

The complainant got wind of it and also informed the Winneba Police who made an arrangement with Asokwa Police and Gyedu was escorted down to Winneba.

She admitted the offence in her caution statement and after investigations, she was arraigned before the court,  the prosecutor added.

Source: GNA