A 34-year-old man, Kofi Asante, aka Davis, has been sentenced to eight years in prison by an Accra Circuit Court for forging a Bank of Ghana (BoG) License in order to operate a microfinance company in Suhum and its surrounding areas in the Eastern region.
According to Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Emmanuel Haligah, the Police obtained information that the convict had set up microfinance business centers under the names KM Community Bank and Prym Capital in the Suhum area and its surroundings.
The convict, after establishing the business, went ahead to collect deposits from people without a BoG license.
According to the prosecution, they received intelligence that the KM Community Bank had branches located in Anum Apapam, Akorabo, and Amanase. Additionally, Prym Capital was found to have its headquarters situated in Suhum.
The prosecution said on June 30, 2023, Asante was arrested for investigations and when his offices were searched, copies of documents purported to be issued by the Bank of Ghana in the name of KM Community Bank were found and retrieved for investigations.
It said investigations revealed that Asante had forged the Bank of Ghana License and had about 24 youths working as representatives within Suhum and its environs.
It said during the period, Asante had successfully convinced about 950 persons, whose daily deposits totaled GHc56,000 with his business.
The prosecution said during interrogation, Asante admitted that KM Community Bank and PRYM Capital were neither registered by the Office of the Registrar of Companies nor licensed by the Bank of Ghana to undertake deposit-taking business.
It said Asante confessed that he forged the Bank of Ghana license retrieved from his office
Asante admitted to the charges of conducting deposit-taking activities without a valid license and has therefore been sentenced to four-year imprisonment.
The court presided over by Joojo Amoah Hagan, sentenced Asante to eight years imprisonment on the charge of forgery of an official document.
The sentences are to run concurrently.
