Kumasi, May 5, GNA - A 40-year-old unemployed, who posed as the Deputy Ashanti Regional Police Commander, seizing cars in the Kumasi metropolis he alleged were smuggled, has been sentenced to 12 months imprisonment in hard labour by a Kumasi Circuit Court. Robert Tettey pleaded guilty to the offence of falsely pretending to be a public officer.

His accomplice, whose name was not given, is however on the run. Police Inspector Martin Assenso told the court presided over by Mr Justice Adjei Frimpong that the police for sometime had been inundated with reports that a group of people, claiming to be members of the disbanded vehicle confiscation task force were operating in Kumasi and had been arresting unsuspecting drivers.

Tettey and another person now on the run arrested a taxicab driven by Kwadwo Kakraba, at Roman Hill and parked it at the Asokwa Police Station. The prosecution said the two asked the driver to meet them the next day at the police station with documents covering the car for inspection. To legitimize their operations, they always ensured the seized vehicles were parked at various police stations in the metropolis. Police Inspector Assenso said the police, who had kept surveillance on Tettey, arrested him on April 15, this year, when he went to the Asokwa Police Station to inspect Krababa's seized car's documents. The convict in his caution statement claimed he was a former officer at the Chief of Staff's office in the previous Administration and was dismissed by the present government. He said the idea of the car seizures was hatched with a friend to help him make a living. Mr Justice Frimpong described the convict's conduct as reprehensible, adding that, he did not deserve the sympathy of the Court. "You were supposed to hand over the official documents after your sack but you are walking around with them. I cannot draw the line between you and a car snatcher," he said.