The accused person was charged with Defrauding by False Pretences contrary to section 131 (1) of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 against Sammie Laryea on Count 1, against Owusu Rita on Count 2, against Desmond Asiedu on Count 3, against Bernice Agyare on Count 4, against Annie Agbettoh on Count 5, against Faustina Ofori on Count 6 and against Darkowaa Dina on Count 7.
Accused person was also charged woth Deceiving a Public Officer contrary to section 251 (b) of Act 29 as amended by section 5 of the Criminal Offences (Amendment Act 2020), (Act 1034) on Count 8 and Stealing contrary to section 124 (1) of Act 29 on Count 9.
THE FACTS OF THE CASE AS PRESENTED BY PROSECUTION
On 2nd February, 2019, accused received one thousand cartons of Maggi shrimp tablets valued at GHC227, 000.00 from complainant Sammie Laryea to supply same to her customers at Okaishie and return the proceeds within two weeks. Accused with intent to defraud the complainant, sold the goods but failed to return the proceeds to the complainant after several demands by the complainant and she went into hiding. During the month of March 2019, the accused resurfaced and went and collected cash of GHC105, 000.00 from Owusua Rita, GHC42, 000.00 from Desmond Asiedu, GHC22, 050.00 from Bernice Agyare, GHC13, 000.00 from Annie Agbettoh, GHC95,550 from Faustina Ofori and GHC6,300.00 from Darkowaa Dina at Okaishie, Accra under the pretext of supplying them Maggi products but again failed and went into hiding. On 10th May, 2019, the accused made a report to Accra Central Police that about a month ago, she was attacked by thieves at Tudu and an amount of GHC420, 000.00 was stolen from her. Police on receipt of the report did further interrogation and realized that her story was false. Complainant was contacted and accused treated as a suspect in the case. In her Cautioned Statement, she stated that she used some of the complainant’s money to pay a debt she was owing her former company PICK MIX and also sold the goods at a reduced price. Accused was charged with the offences and brought before the Court.
BURDEN OF PROOF
Clause 2(c) Article 19 of the 1992 Constitution states that a person charged with a criminal offence shall be presumed to be innocent until he is proved guilty or has pleaded guilty. It is therefore incumbent on prosecution to prove the guilt of the accused person since she has pleaded not guilty to all the counts in the Charge Sheet. The burden of proving the guilt of the accused pers
