Fake phone dealers grabbed
Four men who sold fake phones to unsuspecting customers at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle have been charged before an Accra Magistrate’s Court.
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Iddrisu Adam, Nelson Klu, and Kojo Adjei whose modus operandi was to package fake phones and sell them as genuine ones to their customers were charged with attempt to commit crime and defrauding by false pretence. They all pleaded guilty to both charges.
Freeman Clottey, one of the four who had earlier been granted bail by the police, was not present in court when the case was called and a bench warrant was issued for his arrest.
When the court gave them a chance to plead for mitigation, Adam prayed the court to be lenient with him, saying it will not happen again. Klu said his wife was pregnant, while Adjei also pleaded that he had just lost his pregnant wife.
They were fined GH¢1,800 each or in default serve 12 months imprisonment each.
Presenting the facts of the case to the court, presided over by Mr Isaac Addo, Sergeant Lois Konadu said Clottey, Adam, Klu and Adjei were all traders at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle in Accra.
She told the court that on September 20, 2016, the Greater Accra Police Command received information that the four were selling fake mobile phones to unsuspecting buyers at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle.
Sergeant Konadu said the police proceeded to the said spot and arrested them.
He said one Infinix Note 2 smart phone and a dummy look alike was found on Clottey. Three original Samsung smart phones, together with look-alike model phones, were also retrieved from the accused persons.
Sergeant Konadu said investigations established that the gang defrauded prospective customers by giving fake phones to customers after they had paid for genuine ones.
Modus Operandi
When asked to tell the court the method they used in defrauding their victims, Klu told the court that when customers were given the impression that they were getting the genuine phones, the phones are swapped with the look-alikes when packaging them for the customers.