FIRST ALLIED SAVINGS & LOANS LIMITED v. MICHAEL ADDAI & 2 ORS
2015
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
- HER LADYSHIP ANGELINA MENSAH-HOMIAH (MRS.) JUSTICE OF THE HIGH COURT
Areas of Law
- Civil Procedure
- Evidence Law
- Contract Law
- Commercial Law
2015
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
The Plaintiff, a company, sued its former employee (1st Defendant) to recover funds he allegedly collected but did not account for. The 2nd and 3rd Defendants, named as guarantors, were also sued. The court found the Plaintiff had adequately proven that the 1st Defendant was liable for GH¢5,229.00, though the Plaintiff failed to prove additional claims of GH¢5,170.00. The court also found that the 2nd and 3rd Defendants understood and were bound by the guarantor agreements, rendering them liable for the amount the 1st Defendant failed to account for. The Plaintiff thus had a valid cause of action against all Defendants, resulting in a judgment for the Plaintiff for GH¢5,229.00 plus interest and costs.
JUDGMENT
This seemingly simple case has travelled over two legal years and at last, the wheels of justice have come to a stop! There will certainly be a closure as the parties get to know their fate!
What has brought about this suit? From the endorsement on the writ of summons and statement of claim filed on 14/12/2012, the Plaintiff sought to recover the sum of GH¢ 10, 399.00 being the total amount collected from customers by the 1st Defendant but which he has failed to account for. The Plaintiff is also claiming interest on this amount as well as damages for fraud.
The Plaintiff's case is that the Company employed the 1st Defendant on 1st June, 2009 as a Customer Intermediary. His duties entailed collecting monies from customers specifically assigned to him, and after going through the laid down procedure, hand over the money to the Plaintiff. During an audit, the Plaintiff detected that the 1st Defendant could not account for figures totaling GH¢5229 standing to the credit of customers and he signed a document admitting responsibility for the shortages..
Besides that amount, the Plaintiff found out that 1st Defendant had collected customers pass books ostensibly for auditing purposes but had failed to return them to those customers. The amount standing to the credit of those customers which the 1st Defendant could not account for stands at GH¢5,170.00. The Plaintiff alleged that the 1st Defendant has perpetrated fraud on the Company and gave the particulars of fraud as follows:
a) The 1st Defendant's failure to account for the exact amount paid to him by the Plaintiff's customers.
b) The 1st Defendant's failure to return customers passbooks to them after collecting same for audit purposes.
The 2nd and 3rd Defendants have also been dragged to court because they are alleged to have committed to exert moral pressure on the 1st Defendant so as to ensure that he does not embezzle any fund and to repay any money that would be embezzled by the 1st Defendant.
A lawyer field a defence on behalf of the 1st and 3rd Defendants but the 2nd Defendant had a separate legal representation. The 1st and 3rd Defendants admitted the 1st Defendant's work schedule in the
Plaintiff's employment but denied all the allegations made by the Plaintiff. It is the 1st Defendant's case that the Plaintiff caused his arrest for allegedly stealing over GH¢99,000.00 and he was arraigned before a Circuit Court in Kumasi. The prosecution substituted the charge sheet with a lesser a