Three in court over fake official documents

Accra, Sept. 29, GNA - Three persons were on Friday put before an Accra Circuit Court in connection with fake documents from the Greater Accra Regional Survey Department.

Emmanuel Gbedemah, Malik Mensah and James Duvor Yao are facing 41 counts of conspiracy, forgery of official documents and stamps, uttering documents and possessing forged documents.

They pleaded not guilty and the Court admitted them to 300 million cedis bail each to reappear on October 27 2006.

It said in February 2006 Gbedemah, a draughtsman, prepared a site plan of a plot at Pokuase for one Michael Dery, who in turn sent it to the Regional Survey Department for verification. Upon examination, the Complainant detected that his signature had been forged.

The Prosecution said Gbedemah was lured to the Survey Department where he was apprehended and handed over to the Police. When he was searched two more site plans suspected to have been forged were found on him. They were in the names of one Michael Komla Agbonu and Nicolas Nyabah Okai.

The Prosecution said when the house of Gbedemah was searched 32 more site plans bearing different names believed to have been forged were also found.

Gbedemah told the Police that it was Mensah, another draughtsman, who gave him the site plans for endorsement. Mensah also mentioned Yao with whom the Police found two more site plans. The Prosecution said a forensic report from the Police Science Laboratory indicated that signatures on site plans were forged. The Police further found out that the rubber stamps used in endorsing the site plans were different. 29 Sept. 06