A 25-year-old Lebanese, Al-Zoubayr Chaaban, has been convicted by Circuit Court 1 in Accra after pleading guilty to a charge of possession of fake currency note contrary to section 18(2) of the Currency Act. 1964 (Act.242).
The court, presided over by His Honour Prosper Gomashie, convicted the accused on his own guilty plea.
He was handed a non-custodial sentence by the court and was fined 700 penalty Units, equivalent to GHc8,400. In default, he is to serve two years of prison term.
The brief facts of the case, according to the prosecutor Chief Inspector Amoah Richard of the Legal and Prosecution Unit of the CID Headquarters, are that the National Security operatives arrested the accused, who was exiting Ghana through the Kotaka International during a search.
Chief Inspector Amoah said the search retrieved from his luggage $10,000 suspected to be fake USD currency.
He was subsequently handed over to the National Investigation Bureau for investigations.
That examination of the suspected fake currency by the Bank of Ghana confirmed same.
His Counsel, Kwaku Sallah, pleaded for mitigation for the accused after he admitted the offence.
The accused was convicted on his own guilty plea, and in view of the mitigation plea by the counsel, he was sentenced to a fine of 700 penalty Units in default of two years imprisonment.