A 21-year-old unemployed man, accused of using the name and images of the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta to solicit monies from persons interested in being recruited into the Ghana Armed Forces has been arrested.
Appearing before an Accra Circuit Court, Sabastine Agbemabiese, was charged with pretending to be a public officer and charlatanic advertisement.
Agbemabiese pleaded not guilty and was granted bail in the sum of GH¢70,000 with three sureties, two to be justified.
The Court presided over by Mrs Evelyn Asamoah, ordered the accused person to reappear on June 29.
The prosecution, led by Detective Frederick Sarpong, said the complainant was the Finance Minister.
Detectives Sergeant Sarpong said the accused person hailed from Afife in the Ketu North Municipality of the Volta Region.
He said during the month of May this year, the complainant’s attention was drawn to several fake social media accounts bearing his images.
He said in the various accounts, the accused person was allegedly soliciting persons interested in joining the Ghana Armed Forces for a fee.
The prosecution said the complainant reported the incident to the Police and the accused was traced to his house and arrested.
He said a search conducted in his room revealed a Techno mobile phone containing a sim card with number 0593066104 and another I-Tel phone.
The prosecution said during interrogation, the accused person admitted owning the two phones with sim cards and admitted using the complainant’s photos and name to deceive the public to give out monies to him under the pretext of recruiting them into the Ghana Armed Forces.
