Sekondi, March. 10, GNA- A Sekondi District Magistrate's Court on Monday sentenced a self-styled evangelist, Samuel Kofi Abalo, to nine months imprisonment in hard labour for attempting to dupe the Western Regional Security Coordinator. The accused pleaded not guilty.

Prosecuting, Police Sergeant Godwin Bawa, said sometime in November last year, the accused, a drug addict, undergoing rehabilitation at the Nsawam branch of the Remar Association, Ghana, escaped.

He said the accused managed to obtain copies of the organisation's logos and letter heads before his escape, which he duplicated and used to solicit for funds from the public in the name of the Association. Sergeant Bawa said the accused approached the Regional Security Coordinator and solicited for funds but the coordinator, who was not satisfied with the identity of the accused, rang the Regional Director of the Association, who identified the accused as an escapee from its Nsawam branch.

He said the accused was arrested and handed over to the Police, who during investigations found various documents on Remar's activities and receipts for GH¢266 that he collected from people. Sergeant Bawa said, later, the accused admitted the offence and pleaded for leniency as he acted out of financial difficulties. 11 March. 08