Crime & Punishment of Sunday, 9 August 2015

Source: GNA

Mother of twins fined for forging BECE documents

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The 40-year old woman who forged the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) documents and attempted to obtain admission for her twin -daughters at Wesley Girls High School in Cape Coast, has been fined GHc 960.00.

The Cape Coast Circuit Court, convicted Ruth Fosua, cleaner and a resident of Pokuase in Accra, and would in default serve a three- month prison term.

She pleaded not guilty to forgery of documents but was found guilty and convicted by the court presided over by Ms Sedina Agbemava.

Passing judgment, Ms Agbemava said she took into consideration Fosua’s investigation caution statement, tended in as evidence, in which Fosua confessed forging the document and also attempted to get admission for her daughters.

She said Fosua was not truthful to the court since her defense in court that she was an illiterate and therefore could not be held liable for the forgery, contradicted her claim in her caution statement that she was a teacher.

Fosua pleaded with the court to tamper justice with mercy.

Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Andam Okyere who prosecuted, told the court that on Monday, October 20, 2014, Fosua presented two 2014 BECE result slips bearing the names of her twin daughters with aggregate six at the Wesley Girls High School to seek admission for them.

He said the complainant and Headmistress of the school, Mrs Betty Djokoto, checked the result slips and the school placement codes and detected that the results slips originally belonged to another set of twins at Pokuase – Accra.

ASP Okyere said when Fosua was confronted over the discrepancies and she could not give any reasonable explanation, a complaint was lodged at the Central Regional Police Command leading to Fosua’s arrest.

In her caution statement, she admitted forging both the result slips and the school placement sheets.