A 22-year-old shop attendant who stole GH₵39,385 from a telecommunication shop has been fined 100 penalty units (GH¢1,200) by an Accra Circuit Court and ordered to serve a day in prison.
Paulina Boateng, charged with stealing, pleaded guilty and was convicted on her own plea by the Court presided over by Isaac Addoh.
In default of the fine, she would serve 12 months’ imprisonment. The court also ordered her to pay the remaining balance of the money to the complainant.
Earlier, a lawyer acting as a friend of the court, Lord Delvin Essandoh, prayed for leniency, highlighting that the convict was a first-time offender who showed remorse. He emphasized that she did not waste the court’s time and had her whole life ahead of her, urging the court to consider these factors in determining the sentence.
The prosecution, led by Police Chief Inspector Jonas Lawer, confirmed that the convict was not previously known. The facts presented by the prosecution indicated that the complainant, Mr. Daniel Nana Amaning, was an electrical engineer and shop supervisor for Glorious Bost Ventures, where both the complainant and the convict resided in Nii Boi Town, Accra.
The prosecution further explained that the convict, employed as a shop attendant, was tasked with managing the affairs of the company, which involved selling electrical prepaid and mobile money services for various telecommunication networks. However, in February 2023, the convict stole the aforementioned amount from the shop.
It said, “Recently, an internal auditor was engaged to audit the activities in the shop, and it was detected that an amount of GH¢39,385 had been misappropriated by the convict.”