SELF-STYLED 'MALLAM' FINED (MIRROR, PAGE 27, JUNE 27)

From Vincent Amenuveve, Tamale.

A self-proclaimed Mallam at Choggu, a suburb of Tamale, has been fined GH¢600 by the Tamale District Magistrate Court for possessing fake currency notes.
The convict, Sulemana Mahamudu was earlier charged on two counts of defrauding two persons by false pretence and possessing fake currency notes. But he pleaded not guilty to defrauding by false pretence and pleaded guilty to possessing fake notes.
The court presided over by Mr Gabriel Mate-Teye, found him culpable of possessing fake currency notes and subsequently fined him.
The facts of the case as presented by Chief Inspector Isaac Ampofo were that in February this year, one Ebenezer Boison and his friend approached the convict and expressed their desire to further their education but said they had no money.
According to Chief Inspector Ampofo, Mahamadu convinced Boison and his friend that he could perform some magic for them to get money to achieve their vision.
The convict then collected GH¢2,500 and a Samsung D99 mobile phone from Boison and his friend respectively to buy items for the performance of some rituals.
The convict told the two friends to come the next day and when they complied with the instruction, Mahamudu performed some rites and conjured some American dollars and Ghana cedi notes which convinced the two friends.
The convict, according to the prosecution, then told the two friends that their money was ready.
According to the Chief Inspector, the convict told the two friends that he did not trust them and that they should go home and bring him GH¢1,000. The two left but could not raise the money. The prosecution indicated that on March 10, 2009, Boison’s mother, who is a baker in Tamale gave her son GH¢1,500 to deposit into an account at the Stanbic Bank. The two friends went together and rather gave the money to the convict in exchange for the dollars.
The convict, after collecting the money, went into hiding but Boison’s mother reported the case to the police and later the youth chief at Choggu, invited the convict in a bid to settle the issue.
Chief Inspector Ampofo further stated that the convict refused to cooperate with the chief and rather reported to the police that the youth chief had seized his motorbike.
The convict was arrested after investigations into the issue but during interrogation, denied ever collecting money from the two friends.
When a search was conducted in the convict’s room at Choggu in his presence, a total of 12 fake US$100 bills were found in a Quran and a wooden box.
According to the prosecution, Mahamadu (the convict) claimed ownership and after investigations, he was charged on two counts of defrauding by false pretence and possessing fake currency notes.