Technician Fined For Selling Fake 'Pepsi Cola'

Accra (GAR), July 14, A circuit tribunal in Accra today sentenced Kwaku Ayim, a technician, to a fine of 300,000 cedis for bottling and selling of fake "Pepsi Cola" under the trade mark of the Ghana Bottling Company. Ayim pleaded not guilty to forging a trade mark, but the tribunal chaired by Mr. Charles Nyewolema found him guilty and will go to prison for two years if he fails to pay the fine. The prosecutor, Deputy Superintendent of Police Elizabeth Allandu, said following persistent reports to the company that some people were imitating their products, security personnel and the police, arrested the accused at his home at Awoshie in Accra on May 14, 1995 while bottling a quantity of soft drinks into empty Pepsi Cola bottles. A sample of the drink sent to the Ghana Standards Board was certified as an imitation of the company's product.