An Accra circuit tribunal on Tuesday fined a 35-year-old man one million cedis for posing as a lawyer. Ramseyer Hayford Awuku, who went by the name Eric Yaw Asiedu, pleaded guilty to impersonation, deceit of public officer and fraud. He will serve 12 months in prison if he fails to pay the fine.

The tribunal, chaired by Mrs. Anderson Yeboah, ordered him to refund all monies he had collected from people.

The court heard that since 1994 Awuku had been posing as a lawyer and practising mostly at Nsawam, Nkawkaw, Asamankese, Kumasi and the Accra Community Tribunals.

The prosecution said on June 7 last year, the accused followed up a stealing case to the CID Headquarters to request for bail for a suspect. While he was negotiating for the bail, the complainant in the case, a lawyer, alerted the police that the accused was an impersonator who had defied earlier warnings not to hold himself as a legal practitioner.

The prosecution said during the initial investigations, Awuku maintained that he was a lawyer with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) but later admitted being an impostor.

It said the accused defrauded a woman, Vida Commey at the James Town community tribunal of 300,000 cedis under the pretext of defending her brother who was involved in a narcotic case and early last year he petitioned the Commissioner of Police (CID) that he was a lawyer and a solicitor advocate at the Supreme Court.

Legal documents found on the accused at the time of his arrest were fictitious, the prosecution said.