Court jails Indian 5 years over fake currency possession

An Accra Circuit Court has jailed an Indian national for five years after finding him guilty of possessing large quantities of forged Ghana cedi and US dollar notes.

The convict, Shubham Sharma, a manager, was also ordered to be deported after serving his sentence.

The court, presided over by Mr Joseph Yennuban Kunsong, imposed a four-year term for possessing counterfeit local currency and five years for holding forged foreign currency. The sentences are to run concurrently.

According to the prosecution, Sharma was found with fake GH¢200 notes amounting to GH¢1,976,000 and counterfeit US$100 notes totalling US$191,900.

Prosecutors told the court that the money was linked to his work with a company that manufactures air fresheners, where he had responsibility for receiving and keeping cash on behalf of the business.

The complainant, identified as the company’s chief executive, reported that genuine money had been taken and replaced with forged notes.

Chief Inspector Wisdom Alorwu, leading the prosecution, said investigations showed that while the employer was out of the country, Sharma allegedly broke into the company safe and swapped real dollar notes with counterfeit ones.

Further checks, the court heard, revealed that substantial sums in Ghana cedis had also been replaced with fake GH¢200 notes.

The Bank of Ghana later examined the seized currency and confirmed that the notes were counterfeit.

During investigations, Sharma admitted that he had kept the forged money in the office, the prosecution said.

The court further directed the Ghana Police Service, the Bank of Ghana and the Registrar of the court to ensure the destruction of the counterfeit notes.

It was also noted in court that Sharma had already spent more than nine months in custody before sentencing.