A Circuit Court in Accra has sentenced a 34-year-old man to eight years in prison for forging a Bank of Ghana (BoG) License to operate a microfinance company in Suhum, Eastern Region, and its environs.
Kofi Asante, also known as Davis, pled guilty to engaging in unlicensed deposit-taking and was sentenced to four years in prison.
Asante pleaded guilty to the allegation of forgery of an official document and was sentenced to eight years in prison.
The sentences will run concurrently, said the judge presiding over the case, Joojo Amoah Hagan. The prosecution, led by Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Emmanuel Haligah, stated that the Police had received information that the defendant, now convicted, had established microfinance business centers under the names of KM Community Bank and Prym Capital in Suhum and its environs.
It was stated that, after establishing the business, the convict proceeded to collect deposits from individuals without a license.
According to information provided by the prosecution, KM Community Bank had branches in Anum Apapam, Akorabo, and Amanase, while Prym Capital maintained its headquarters in Suhum.
According to the prosecution, Asante was arrested on 30 June 2023 for investigation purposes, and when his offices were inspected, copies of documents purportedly issued by the Bank of Ghana in the name of KM Community Bank were discovered and retrieved for investigation purposes.
Investigations revealed that between April and January 2023, Asante forged the Bank of Ghana License and employed 24 youths as representatives in Suhum and its environs, according to the report.
It was stated that Asante was able to persuade approximately 950 individuals to make daily deposits of GHc56,000 into his business during the specified time frame.
During interrogation, Asante confessed, according to the prosecution, that KM Community Bank and PRYM Capital were neither registered with the Office of the Registrar of Companies nor licensed by the Bank of Ghana to conduct deposit-taking business.
It stated that Asante admitted to forging the Bank of Ghana license recovered from his office.
