Prince Sam Essuman, a member of the Ecobank Ghana Ltd workforce, was found guilty of nine counts of theft.
He embezzled funds belonging to SIC Ltd and other bank customers.
The convict’s modus operandi, according to the prosecutor, DSP Asamani, was to take money and deposit slips from the affected consumers, stamp the deposit slips, and return a copy to the customers.
He would, on the other hand, neglect to credit the customers’ bank accounts and delete the bank’s copy of the deposit slip, preventing the bank from knowing that any money had been put.
It is only when the customers reconcile their accounts that they would realize the theft.
The judge, Her Lordship, Mrs. Bertha Anin-Agyei in sentencing the convict noted that according to the Bank of Ghana fraud report, there is an increase in bank fraud and most times, it is the staff who are culprits or who aid others to commit such crimes.
She said the Courts must hand down a deterrent sentence in order to deter other bankers from engaging in such crimes and also maintain public confidence in the banking sector since banks are essential for the G.D.P growth of a country.
The convict was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment on each of the nine counts and the terms are to run concurrently.
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