Kumasi, May 31, GNA - Four persons who produced fake herbal medicine and labelled them as "Agyappia" Bitters, have been sentenced to a fine of 500,000 cedis each by a Kumasi circuit court.

The four, Bawa Amadu, Thomas Amissah, Sampson Tinda and Edward Ayensu, will in default of payment of the fines serve a jail term of six months each.

They all pleaded guilty and were convicted on their own pleas. Prosecuting, Police Superintendent William Awuvey told the court, presided over by Mr Richard Kogyapwah that the Agya Appiah Alternative Medicine Limited, original owners of the herbal product, mounted surveillance when it received numerous public complaints about imitations of its products on the market.

He said on May 17, this year, a special investigative team set up by the company acting upon a tip-off, caught the convicts preparing the medicine and labelling them as "Agyappia" bitters in a certain house in Kumasi.

Supt. Awuvey said they were then arrested and handed over to the police and preliminary investigations revealed that about 36 cartons of the altered herbal drug have been produced. They were subsequently put before court. Meanwhile, a team comprising the police and management of the company has been permitted to destroy the imitated brands of the drug.