Man Jailed 8 Years For Forging BoG Microfinance License

In a significant legal development, a 34-year-old man named Kofi Asante, also known as Davis, has been handed an eight-year prison sentence by an Accra Circuit Court for his involvement in operating an unlicensed microfinance company using a forged Bank of Ghana (BoG) license. The court, presided over by Judge Joojo Amoah Hagan, sentenced Asante to four years for engaging in deposit-taking without a proper license and eight years for the forgery of an official document. These sentences will be served concurrently.

According to the prosecution, led by Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Emmanuel Haligah, Asante had set up microfinance centers under the names KM Community Bank and Prym Capital in the Suhum area of the Eastern region and its surroundings. Despite lacking the necessary license, Asante managed to collect deposits from unsuspecting individuals.

The prosecution's investigation revealed that Asante's operation included branches of KM Community Bank in Anum Apapam, Akorabo, and Amanase, with Prym Capital headquartered in Suhum.

The unraveling of this illicit operation began on June 30, 2023, when Asante was apprehended for further inquiry. A search of his offices yielded copies of documents purported to be issued by the Bank of Ghana on behalf of KM Community Bank. These documents were retrieved and inspected as part of the investigation.

Subsequent inquiries uncovered a pattern of forgery. It was determined that Asante had created a counterfeit Bank of Ghana license, dating back to a period between April and January 2023. Moreover, it was discovered that approximately 24 young individuals were employed by Asante as representatives to promote his fraudulent microfinance businesses in the Suhum vicinity.

Disturbingly, during the time of his operation, Asante managed to persuade around 950 individuals to make daily deposits totaling GHc56,000 into his unauthorized enterprise.

Upon intense interrogation, Asante admitted to his wrongdoing. He confessed that neither KM Community Bank nor PRYM Capital had received proper registration from the Office of the Registrar of Companies, nor were they licensed by the Bank of Ghana to engage in deposit-taking activities.