An Accra Circuit Court has sentenced a 34-year-old man to eight years in prison for forging a Bank of Ghana (BoG) licence to run a microfinance enterprise at Suhum in the Eastern region and its surroundings.
Kofi Asante, also known as Davis, was given a four-year prison term after entering a guilty plea to the charge of participating in deposit-taking without a licence.
Asante entered a guilty plea to the allegation of falsifying an official document and received an eight-year jail term.
According to the court, which was presided over by Joojo Amoah Hagan, the penalties must run consecutively.
According to the prosecution, which is being directed by Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Emmanuel Haligah, the police obtained information that the defendant—who is now convicted—had constructed microfinance business centres in Suhum and the surrounding area under the names of KM Community Bank and Prym Capital.
It said that after starting the firm, the prisoner went on to collect deposits from clients who lacked licences.
According to the prosecution, intelligence showed that Prym Capital’s headquarters were in Suhum, while the KM Community Bank had locations in Anum Apapam, Akorabo, and Amanase.
The prosecution said that on June 30, 2023, Asante was detained for questioning and that during the search of his offices, copies of papers purporting to be issued in the name of KM Community Bank by the Bank of Ghana were discovered and taken for examination.
Investigations, according to the report, showed that Asante had about 24 adolescents working as representatives in Suhum and the surrounding area between April and January 2023 after forging the Bank of Ghana licence, it added.According to the report, Asante persuaded roughly 950 people to make daily deposits of GHC56,000 with his company during that time.
Asante confessed, according to the prosecution, that KM Community Bank and PRYM Capital were not registered with the Office of the Registrar of Companies nor given a licence by the Bank of Ghana to conduct deposit-taking activity during questioning.
Asante allegedly admitted forging the Bank of Ghana licence that was taken from his office.