A Businesswoman who recruited and trafficked a lady from Ghana to Kurdistan, Iraq, has been sentenced to eight years in prison by an Accra Circuit Court.
Beatrice Ofori is said to have received $4,500 and $7,000 from an agency for the act and promised to secure a seamstress job for the victim, who ended up being a domestic servant exposed to inhumane treatment.
She had denied the charge of trafficking but was found guilty by the trial court presided over by Christina Cann and sentenced accordingly.
According to the facts presented, Beatrice claimed to be a travel and tour operator in Accra. The complainant, the victim’s mother, lived in the same neighbourhood at Klagon in Accra.
On September 13, 2022, the complainant lodged a complaint with the Anti Human Smuggling and In Person Unit (AHSTIP) of the Ghana Immigration Service that she had received a distress call from her daughter, whom she had not heard from for about 11 months, that she was in slavery in Kurdistan, Iraq.
The prosecution said when the victim arrived in Kurdistan, she was made to remit $700 to Beatrice and went through inhumane treatment, including sexual harassment and denial of food.
The Prosecution said later that the victim managed to get a phone, contacted her mother, and asked to be rescued.
The AHSTIP Unit of the Ghana Immigration Service gave Beatrice one week to repatriate the victim to Ghana as part of her bail condition.
The Prosecution said Beatrice purchased a Qatar Airways ticket for the victim, and then on September 27, 2022, the AHSTIP Unit of the Ghana Immigration Service received the victim at about 0900 hours at the Kotoka International Airport.
