Military recruitment fraudster jailed

A district court in Tamale has sentenced Rashid Ewutomah to 24 months in prison for defrauding unsuspecting persons with the promise of getting them recruited into the Ghana Armed Forces.

Rashid Ewutomah pleaded guilty to five counts of defrauding by false pretences.

The facts of the case are that he issued various fake recruitment letters and military ID cards to various persons at Damongo and collected various sums of money.

The fake letters asked the potential recruits to report to a training centre in Sunyani for commencement of military training.

A military team dispatched to conduct investigations arrested the suspect at Damongo. Items retrieved from his room during a search included a laptop computer which had copies of the various letters he designed and issued to the various persons.

Fake military ID cards and medical forms were also retrieved from his room. The suspect was transferred to the Tamale Regional Police Command where he was charged with the offence.

When Ewutomah appeared before the District Court in Tamale, he pleaded guilty to the five counts and was convicted on his own plea. He was sentenced to serve 24 months imprisonment.

According to the deputy director of Information and Press Relations of the Ghana Army, Andy La-Anyane, “the Ghana Armed Forces wishes to advise the general public that no new recruitment exercise is being undertaken.”

He added: “All enlistment and recruitment exercises are published in the National dailies to educate the general public on the processes involved. The general public is further advised to report anybody who carries himself as an agent for recruitment to the police.”