A 19-year-old, Beatrice Naa Lamley, has been sentenced to 12 months in prison for faking her own kidnapping.
Beatrice, a mobile money vendor, on June 24 this year, conspired with three others to fake her kidnapping and demanded GH?10,000 as ransom from her family.
A statement released Wednesday by the Accra Regional Police Command said her family reported the incident to the James Town Police and after two weeks of investigation, she was arrested at her hideout in Osu.
“The convict, on 24th June 2019 conspired with three others to fake her kidnap in demand for Ten Thousand Ghana Cedis (GH?10,000) ransom from her family. Reports made to the James Town police and further investigation led to her arrest after two weeks in her hideout in Osu, Accra. She was duly arraigned before the Adjabeng District Court for prosecution”
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“Beatrice Naa Lamley Kitson Mills was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment after the court found her guilty of the offence of Publication of False news contrary to section 208 of Criminal Offences Act 1960(ACT 29) to serve as a deterrent to others,” the statement said.
As reports of kidnapping gained currency in the country in the early part of the year, some unscrupulous persons decided to fake the claims to make money from unsuspecting members of the public.
In February, a student allegedly conspired with some friends to demand a ransom of GH¢9000 from his parents.
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In one of the cases, an 18-year-old final-year student of the Ghana Secondary Technical Senior High School (GSTS), De-Vreeze Quaynoo, allegedly conspired with some other students to fake the kidnapping claim.
In another case, a mother of two, Lucy Awortwi, said to be in her late 20s, was arrested after she faked a kidnapping case against his ex-husband.
Source: Daily Graphic