Two persons before tribunal for falsification of documents

Accra, Sept. 24, GNA - Two persons on Friday appeared before a circuit tribunal in Accra charged with conspiracy and falsification of documents.

Osman Yoomar, 37, and Abubakar Sadiq, 30, both traders, who were also charged with defrauding by false pretences and possessing forged documents, pleaded not guilty.

They were granted five million cedis bail with one surety each to appear again on October 15.

Prosecuting, Police Inspector Joseph Ohemeng told the tribunal, chaired by Mr Charles Nyewolema, that the complainant, Mr Mohammed Toffic Suleman, lives at Techiman while the accused persons live in Accra.

Inspector Ohemeng said sometime in July, this year, Mr Suleman, who wanted to travel to Jordan but needed a visa to enable him do so, approached Yoomar and Sadiq who demanded 1,300 dollars (3,575,000 cedis) from him to accomplish the task.

The prosecutor said the accused persons also collected the complainant's Ghanaian passport and his International Certificate of Vaccination under the pretext of processing the visa.

He said due to the delay in processing the visa, Mr Suleman made a report to the police who arrested Yoomar and Sadiq.

During investigation, the police detected that the passport was stamped with a Libyan visa but when it was forwarded to the Libyan Arab Jamamiriya embassy in Accra for examination, it was found out that the visa was not genuine.