A Tarkwa Circuit Court has sentenced a 34-year-old former field officer of the National Trust Holding Company (NTHC) Trustee to five years’ imprisonment with hard labour for stealing GH¢96,490 belonging to some customers of the firm.
The convict, Comfort Asante, who pleaded not guilty to charges of stealing and forgery, claimed she took the money to help settle a debt owed by her mother.
After a full trial, the court, presided over by Mrs. Hathia Ama Manu, found her guilty on both counts and convicted her, stressing the need to deter others from similar offences.
The prosecutor, Chief Superintendent of Police Alex Odonkor, told the court that the complainant was NTHC Trustee, a company registered under the laws of Ghana to manage pension schemes.
He explained that the convict’s responsibilities included daily fieldwork to educate the public, register clients, and collect contributions on behalf of the company for the Tier Three Pension Scheme, also known as the SSNIT Informal Scheme Product (SISP).
Asante was also tasked with accurately recording contributions electronically into the company’s system using an official mobile phone issued to her, while also updating customers’ passbooks.
The system automatically generated receipt numbers, and text message alerts were sent to clients to confirm their payments.
Chief Superintendent Odonkor said that between 2 and 5 May 2023, the company received complaints from some contributors who had not been receiving alerts for payments made through Asante.
Upon reviewing the passbooks of the affected contributors, the company discovered discrepancies between the figures recorded in the books and those entered into the company’s system.
It was also detected that receipt numbers recorded in customers’ passbooks by Asante had not been generated by the company’s electronic system.
On 17 May 2023, the company lodged a complaint with the police, leading to Asante’s arrest. During investigations, she admitted the offence in her caution statement.
An internal audit carried out by the company’s auditors revealed that Asante had dishonestly appropriated a total of GH¢96,490, representing contributions made by 32 customers through her.
Source: GNA
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