A former contract staff of Absa Bank, Emmanuel Sakyi Afriyie, has been convicted and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment by the High Court in Accra for stealing over GHc1.2 million.
The convict, Emmanuel Sakyi Afriyie, who was charged together with a student, Cecil Nyamesem Agyarkwa, was found guilty of tampering with customer Visa Cards, resulting in the theft of the said amount.
He was arrested at the Kotoka International Airport on June 4, 2023, together with her girlfriend when they were leaving Ghana for Dubai after stealing over GHc1.2 million from customers of the bank.
At the age of 25 at the time of the offence in 2023, Afriyie (now 27) denied the offence, and the matter went through a full trial, after which he was found guilty.
He was sentenced to 5 years for fraudulent electronic fund transfer contrary to Section 122 of the Electronic Transactions Act, 2008 (Act 772), and 10 years on seven counts of stealing contrary to Section 107(a) of the Electronic Transactions Act, 2008 (Act 772).
Again, he was sentenced to 5 years on six counts of Unauthorized Interference with Electronic Records contrary to Section 125 of the Electronic Transactions Act, 2008 (Act 772), and 5 years each on counts of Money Laundering contrary to Section 1(2)(a)(i) of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2020 (Act 1044).
The sentences, which are to be served in hard labour, are to run concurrently, meaning the convict will serve the highest sentence, which is 10 years.
The second accused, Agyarkwa, with whom he was charged for conspiracy to steal, was acquitted and discharged after the court, presided over by Justice Ruby Aryeetey, held that the prosecution could not connect him with the crime.
Belated Plea bargaining request
Counsel for the accused (convict) had prayed the court to allow them to open a plea bargaining request with the state moments after his client’s conviction.
However, Ms. Stella Ohene Appiah, a Chief State Attorney, stated that the request was belated because plea bargaining cannot be initiated after an accused person’s conviction.
“I think counsel for the accused made his request for plea bargaining too late,” the Chief State Attorney said, citing the provision of the plea bargaining act under the Criminal and Other Procedures Amendment Act (2022), Section 16, and its related provisions.
According to her, once judgment has been read and the accused person is duly convicted, a request for plea bargaining is moot.
She explained, “What the defense counsel should do after the accused has been convicted is make a plea of mitigation.”
Mitigation plea
In his mitigation plea for the convict, counsel stated that his client is a father of a child whom he has never seen.
He noted that, given the crucial role fathers play in the upbringing of their children, the child will not benefit from the paternal presence of his father during his early development.
This, he pleaded, warrants minimum punishment.
While urging the Court to consider all the mitigating factors, counsel pointed out that the accused (convict) has been on remand in lawful custody since his arrest on June 4, 2023, without being granted bail.
No mercy
The Prosecution, led by Ms. Appiah, a Chief State Attorney, responded by stating that “this accused person does not deserve the mercy of this court for the least sentence.”
To support her argument, she noted that the accused stole the credentials of his working colleagues to commit an offense that would have implicated them through no fault of their own.
She further stated that the convict attempted to flee the jurisdiction before his arrest.
“Despite the overwhelming evidence provided by the prosecution through disclosures, including CCTV footage that captured him in real-time, he chose to proceed with a full trial and did not take advantage of plea bargaining,” she stated.
“This accused person wasted everyone’s time, including the court’s, even though he knew the evidence was against him,” she emphasized, stressing that “such a person does not deserve the mercy of the court and should receive maximum punishment to serve as a deterrent to other working staff who think they can use the internet to commit crimes and go undetected.”
She highlighted that the convict had caused a loss of approximately one million Ghana cedis to Absa Bank.
She stressed that, of all the counts charged, “stealing is the one that carries the maximum punishment of up to 25 years, and I pray that Your Ladyship will hand the convict the maximum sentence.”
By Court
In sentencing, Justice Ruby Aryeetey stated that she took into consideration the fact that the convict is a young father and that he had already spent two years in custody.
The court also considered his role at the bank and the circumstances surrounding the incident before imposing a 10-year custodial sentence on him for stealing.
According to EIB Network’s Legal Affairs Correspondent, Murtala Inusah, the convict was observed in a prayerful mood before the case was called, and after his conviction, he knelt down and begged the court for a second chance.
However, the court reminded him that stealing carries a maximum punishment of 25 years and suggested that he consider appealing the judgment if he disagrees with it.
Brief facts
According to the brief facts, the complainant, Nana Addo Ampem-Darko, is the Head of Fraud Detection and Operations at Absa Bank Ghana Limited.
The first accused, Emmanuel Sakyi Afriyie, 25, is a former banker at Absa Bank and a resident of Labone. The second accused, Cecil Nyamesem Agyarkwa, 26, is a university student.
The third accused, Richard Aikins, 31, and the fourth accused, Michael Tweneboah Oppong, 25, are both traders. The fifth accused, Fouad Mohammed, 32, is a System Administrator, while the sixth accused, Caleb Bandoh, 25, is an entrepreneur.
The seventh to seventeenth accused, namely Clinton Asamoah, Kwame Owusu Buadu, Nicholas Ni Sai, Nana Kwesi Gymah, Benjamin Adoari, Daniel Osei, Boadu Nana Yaw Adjei, Joseph D. Anim, Ernest Aryee, Isaac De-Heer, and Othniel Amankwah Darkwa, are all at large.
The prosecution stated that Sakyi Afriyie (A1) was employed by Absa Bank Ghana Limited as a contract staff in February 2022 and was posted to the Osu branch as a Processing Officer.
His job description included assisting customers with loan processing, T-bill processing, debit card processing, dormant account activation, and customer account maintenance.
The prosecution noted that the first accused had worked at the said branch for over a year and had worked on several accounts, including the victim Ekua Ewuduwa Dadzie’s bonus and savings accounts.
Dadzie had been a loyal customer of the bank since 2009/2010.
In February 2023, the first accused registered for an online coding course called “Code with Mosh” for a renewable annual subscription of USD 174.30, equivalent to GHS 2,287.69.
On February 6, 2023, he paid for the annual subscription using Rev. Cynthia Patricia Asamoah’s Visa card number 453109xxxxxx2285, a prestige customer of the bank.
The prosecution stated that while the complainant and the Fraud team of the bank were preparing and gathering evidence to engage Afriyie, they were informed by the Osu Branch manageress, Mrs. Felicia Mackenzie, that he had tendered his resignation letter, effective May 31, 2023.
This transaction by the first accused on the said customer’s Visa card and his resignation raised alarm for the complainant and his team to investigate further.
The prosecution stated that the complainant and the fraud team, including the bank’s IT experts, detected that on April 20, 2023, the first accused, who had accessed his colleague Rogers Selassie Adams’ User ID and password, changed the contact number on victim Ekua Ewuduwa Dadzie’s accounts without the customer’s request.
On April 21, 2023, he personally set up internet and mobile banking access on Ekua Ewuduwa Dadzie’s accounts using his own User ID and password, after which he had access and started operating on the accounts without the victim customer receiving SMS alerts.
From April 21, 2023, to May 12, 2023, the first accused, having access to Ekua Ewuduwa’s account, fraudulently transferred a total of GHS 945,133.00, including charges, from the accounts of other accused persons.
The prosecution stated that the first accused transferred funds to various accounts, including:
GHS 90,000.00 to A2’s girlfriend, Rhoda Abena, Gransimaa Panyin Quansah’s Cal Bank and Fidelity Bank accounts
GHS 180,000.00 to A3’s Cal Bank account with account name AE iShop
GHS 30,000.00 to A4’s Cal Bank account
GHS 30,000.00 to A5’s GT Bank account
GHS 30,000.00 to A6’s Cal Bank account
GHS 30,000.00 to A8’s Access Bank account
GHS 60,000.00 to A9’s Fidelity Bank account
GHS 90,000.00 to A10’s Cal Bank account
GHS 60,000.00 to A11’s Ecobank account
GHS 30,000.00 to A12’s Fidelity account
GHS 30,000.00 to A13’s GT Bank account
GHS 60,000.00 to A14’s FNB account
All these transfers were done in GHS 30,000.00 tranches on different days within the said period.
On May 9, 2023, from 7:21 a.m. to 7:32 a.m., the first accused used another colleague’s, Isaac Wife’s, and the branch manageress Felicia Mackenzie’s User IDs to change and authorize the contact numbers of eleven customers’ accounts, including the account of the late Justice Anthony Kofi Abada, former IGP Late Mr. Ernest Ako, Williams Joe Frimpong, Rev. Theodora Baba Hackman, Esther Marian Hackman, and replaced them with only one contact number, 0531668674.
The first accused then used eleven minutes to complete both the changes and authorization. Afterward, he used his own User ID to set up online and mobile banking for these eleven accounts on May 10, 2023.
On May 11, 2023, the first accused transferred GHS 50,000.00 from Esther Marian Hackman’s account to Absa account of the 15th accused.
On May 16, 2023, he transferred GHS 50,000.00 each from Ernest Ako, Williams Joe Frimpong, and Rev. Theodora Baba Hackman’s accounts to the following Absa account holders, respectively: A15, A17, and A16.
A2, A3, A4, A5, and A6 stated in their respective investigation cautioned statements that A7 came to their shops to purchase an iPhone 14 Pro Max and requested their bank account details, which he forwarded to the first accused to effect those fraudulent transfers into their various accounts.
On May 12, 2023, the first accused was arrested by the Police in respect of the Visa card theft and was granted Police enquiry bail to be reporting.
On May 15, 2023, the complainant, on behalf of the bank, petitioned the Director-General, CID, in respect of the GHS 1,207,017.00 theft detected in furtherance to the Visa Card theft.
The Police contacted the first accused to report himself to the Police, but he refused to show up, and his surety was informed to produce him to the Police, but to no avail.
On June 4, 2023, he attempted to escape from the jurisdiction and fly to Dubai together with his girlfriend, Ivy Okertchiri, who stood as surety for him.
Nevertheless, he was arrested at the Kotoka International Airport by the Ghana Immigration Service and handed over to the Police.
Investigation revealed that the first accused, together with his accomplices, had stolen a total of GHS 1,209,304.69 from the accounts of the aforementioned victims between April 2023 and May 2023.
