Jessica Oforiwa, a 35-year-old caterer and hairdresser, has been sentenced to five years in prison for stealing GH₵81,060 from GCB Bank customers using cloned cheques.
Oforiwa was convicted on seven charges, including abetment of crime and stealing, with the sentences running concurrently. Her accomplices—Dawda Sawdido, Mohammed Muktar, Fuseini Saeed Ibrahim, Felix Mensah, Lawrence Quarshie, and Philip Ansah—are still at large.
During sentencing, the court acknowledged Oforiwa’s status as a first-time offender and a mother of two but emphasized that her actions were premeditated. Oforiwa played a key role in aiding the other fugitives in misappropriating funds from the bank.
Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Seth Frimpong, who led the prosecution, urged the court to impose a deterrent sentence due to the growing number of similar crimes, which he said were harming financial institutions and destabilizing the economy.
The prosecution revealed that in 2022, GCB Bank discovered that eight cheques had been cloned from its customers’ accounts, resulting in a total withdrawal of GH₵81,060.
Victims included Rejoice Emekor Senezah, who had GH₵12,000 stolen from her account on January 10, 2022, and Felcon Electrical Enterprise, who lost GH₵47,460 on April 13, 2022. Investigations showed that the cloned cheques had been issued to Oforiwa’s company, Jesnat Cook Company.
Oforiwa and her accomplices used chemical methods to erase account details and signatures on the original cheques, making them appear legitimate to the bank.
Source: adomonline