Access Bank's Head of Operations jailed for stealing

 Samuel Otumfuo, a former Head of Operations at Access Bank, has been jailed for one year in hard labour by an Accra Circuit Court for stealing GH¢809,611.24 belonging to the bank.

This was after the bank’s internal auditors detected that Otumfuo had withdrawn the said amount with duplicate cheques of Chariamatar Ventures, a company that belongs to one Pastor Samuel Amanor.

Otumfuo and others were standing trial for conspiracy to commit crime and stealing while another accomplice was charged for abetment of crime.

Verdict

The court presided over by Justice Francis Obiri, after full trial, found Otumfuo guilty of the charge of stealing.

In jailing Otumfuo, the judge noted that the convict was a first offender and had also been dismissed from his job.

Justice Obiri stated that the convict had lost all his entitlements for the 28 years he worked with the bank.

As a result, he jailed Otumfuo for one year in hard labour and ordered him to refund the said amount to the bank.

In the case of the other alleged accomplices, Justice Obiri noted that they did nothing in respect of the crime and even if they did, it was with no criminal intent.

He accordingly acquitted and discharged them.

Facts

The prosecutor, C/Supt Duuti Tuaruka, had told the court that the complainants were the management of Access Bank while Otumfuo worked with the bank.

C/Supt Tuaruka said on February 2, 2014, the bank’s auditors undertook a yearly routine auditing exercise and detected that between January and October 2013, duplicate cheques of a company were used to withdraw the amount.

The police officer noted that the audit team invited Otumfuo, who was unable to explain circumstances under which the money was withdrawn.

He said a complaint was lodged with the police, leading to the arrest of the convict who mentioned the other two as his accomplices.

C/Supt Tuaruka said Otumfuo said he used the money to assist his brother, one Stephen Mawuli, who was engaged in illegal mining but that investigations revealed that he personally used the money.

He stated that Otumfuo, between March and July 2013, withdrew a total of GH¢410,500 from the accounts of Chariamatar Ventures.

The police officer said during that period, the convict also withdrew GH¢117,000 from an account at CAL Bank and in July 2013, he took a total of GH¢75,095.50 from the accounts of Ridas Company owned by one Eyram Dumor.

The prosecutor said the convict again withdrew GH¢31,511.47 from the the first account.

He said when the owner of the account was arrested, he admitted the offence and said he applied for a loan in 2012 from the bank but was rejected. He said Otumfuo demanded cheques of the company and in return gave him GH¢100,000 initially.

C/Supt Tuaruka noted that Otumfuo built a five-bedroom flat at Adenta New Site and another three-bedroom house around Zenith University College and issued cheques for Ridas to furnish the house he had built at Adenta New Site.