Two men whose alleged fraudulent activities resulted in the loss of GH¢160,000 belonging to Alfa Lotto Company, have appeared before an Accra Circuit Court.
Richard Osei, a supervisor of Alfa Lotto and Wisdom Korkortsi, a phone repairer, have pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit crime, forgery of other documents and stealing,
The Court presided over by Mrs Susan Eduful has admitted the accused persons to bail.
Osei, the first accused person, was granted bail in the sum of GH¢100,000 with two sureties, who must be public servants, earning not less than GH¢4,000.
Korkotsi, was admitted to bail in the sum of GH¢50,000 with two sureties who must be family members of the accused.
Prosecution led by Chief Inspector Daniel Danku said the complainant, Henry Quarshie, was a supervisor in Alpha Lotto Company Limited, residing at Madina.
Richard Osei is a phone repairer, residing at High Street, Accra and the second accused Wisdom Kortortsi, is an agent for Alpha Lotto Company Limited responsible for receiving “closed lotto” booklets and proceeds received from those booklets and sending same to the Alpha Lotto Head office before the winning numbers are announced.
Chief Inspector Danku said on July 22, 2024, Osei visited Korkortsi in his office at Tema Station, Accra as soon as the winning numbers were mentioned.
Osei took a blank booklet and wrote the winning numbers on them to the tune of
GH¢160,000.00.
Korkortsi, who was the custodian of the closed booklets, waiting to be delivered to the head office, handed over the bag or sack locked with padlock containing the closed booklets/tickets to Osei.
Prosecution said Osei managed to insert the fake winning tickets into the sack or the bag in the presence of Korkortsi.
The court heard that Korkortsi later took custody of the bag and sent same to the Alpha Lotto Headquarters.
Prosecution said a few days later, Korkortsi went and presented the fake duplicate booklets/tickets to his Boss as winning tickets and an amount of GH¢160,000.00 was paid to Korkortsi.
The Prosecution said Korkortsi and Osei shared the amount equally.
According to prosecution, the complainant later detected the theft and confronted Korkortsi and he admitted the offence and led police to arrest Osei.
During investigation, prosecution said the accused persons admitted the offences and pleaded with the complainant to refund the amount involved.
Prosecution said Korkotsi refunded GH¢70,000, leaving a balance of GH¢10,000.
In the case of Osei, Prosecution said Osei refunded GH¢5,000 out of GH¢80,000 he received.
Source: GNA