THE REPUBLIC v. YUSSIF MAHAMOUD

JUDGEMENT

The accused person is charged with Fraudulent breach of trust contrary to Section 128 of

the Criminal and Other Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29).

The accused person pleaded not guilty after the charge had been read out and explained

to him.

THE CASE OF THE PROSECUTION

The facts of the case as presented by the prosecution were that, somewhere in the year

2018, the complainant was having two containers of wood valued at GH¢100,000.00

which he intended to export to Vietnam but at the same time, the complainant was in the

process of travelling to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, for the Moslem annual Hajj pilgrimage. The

complainant discussed his predicament with the accused person and the accused assured him that he could sell the wood and give him the money when he return from his trip.

The accused then demanded for and collected the goods (two containers of wood) from

the complainant under the pretext of selling them to a customer. After receiving the wood

the accused consequently sold same and used the money for his personal purposes. On

his return from the pilgrimage, the complainant called the accused several times on his

mobile phone but he refused to answer the calls. All attempts also by the complainant to

meet the accused proved futile as the accused kept avoiding him. A complaint was

lodged with the police and the accused was arrested. He admitted the offence in his

caution statement and pleaded for time to pay the money. The accused was granted bail

but he subsequently went into hiding. The accused person was rearrested from his

hideout in Accra and after investigations, he was charged with the offence and arraigned

before this court.

In proving its case, the prosecution called three (3) witnesses including the Investigator.

PW1, the complainant stated exactly the facts as presented by the prosecution.

According to PW2, somewhere in the year 2018 PW1 told him that he was preparing to

go to Mecca, for Hajj, and that he had two containers of wood to be sold but because he

had little time in his hands he had decided to give the goods to the accused to sell for

him. PW2 said PW1 later invited him to the Hajj village in Accra and introduced him to

the accused and further instructed the accused to give him (PW2) GH¢5,000.00 when he

sell the goods. PW2 stated that after about three weeks the accused sent him the

GH¢5,000.00 as directed by PW1.

PW3 in his witness statement filed on 29th March, 2022 only rehashed the facts of this ca