A popular Ghanaian model Sandra Sorice is fighting off stigmatization and victimization in her line of business as a result of a media report in 2014 about a case in court where she was accused of defrauding an American businessman Reginald Beauvais who happened to be her ex-lover.

Sandra Sorice and her driver, Yussif Ahmed Akpakli, were cited to have allegedly defrauded an American and his partners of GH¢1,658,781.00 under the pretext of supplying them gold but failed to do so.

Speaking to SMS News, the popular model said though she was taken to court, she was acquitted and discharged by a court of competent jurisdiction and cleared of all charges against her.

She said 10 years after the case was quashed, people still use the media reportage on when she was arrested to victimize and malign her.

"Now, people especially my competitors in the Model business across the world most especially in Europe use the case against me. They resort to the internet and find the media reportage on my arrest to make statements and allegations against me. This is really affecting me", she cried out.

Unfair treatment from the media

Madam Sorice however expressed disappointment in how the media carried her story when it broke out and lack of interest in how the case panned out.

She mentioned that some media houses gave a lot of publicity to her case when she was initially sent to court but they failed to follow the case to the latter.

"You see, those media houses who reported on my case initially decided not to report on the final ruling which I was acquitted of all charges and the case struck out. This has given enough impetus to my detractors to continue to use the issue against me."

Concerns have been raised in recent times about the showing of faces of alleged criminals on social media, papers and television. Such acts according to some lawyers infringe upon the human rights of accused persons and results in victimization and stigmatization when proven innocent.

The Ghana Police Service in 2021 announced its intention to stop displaying faces of suspects who are yet to be convicted.

The Service in a Facebook post noted that the identities of suspects will only be displayed when the suspects are properly convicted before a competent court of law.

A Chief State Attorney in an advice to the Director General of CID dated 24th March 2014 with reference number XA/55/12 and cited by Obuasi-based SMS Media, asked the CID to withdraw all the charges preferred against the two accused persons and stop the prosecution of the case.

Authored by Matthew Amponsah, a Chief State Attorney, the prosecution advised that based on the merit of the case as presented by the parties involved, it was proper to give all parties fair and equal opportunities to put their cases across.

"For this reason, it will not be fair to take criminal action against some while leaving others untouched".

The advice went further to state that Reginald Beauvais would not be expected to be gullible and would have been expected to insist on making payment in the presence of his business partner Danilo knowing Danilo gave him the money and said Reginald's behaviour smacked of disloyalty and speaks volume of hiding something from Danilo.

Lastly, knowing Sandra's role in the business, it was doubtful that she could turn around and swindle Reginald and others as alleged by Reginald. It was on record that Sandra was a partner and had contributed significantly to the business.

Background

Reginald Beauvais and Sandra Sorice formed an amorous relationship after Reginald had come to Ghana to buy Gold. Their relationship was birthed at the Golden Tulip Hotel where Reginald lodged immediately after he came to Ghana.

Coincidentally, Sandra was lodged in the same hotel. They met and exchanged pleasantries. In the course of their discussions, Reginald revealed to Sandra his mission in Ghana was to buy gold. This convinced Sandra to also invest in the business.

Their relationship progressed even after Danilo, a business partner of Reginald flew from America to join him in Ghana. At a point, the two love birds were said to have moved into the family house of Sandra at Trassaco, a plush residence in the heart of Accra.

But things took a nose dive for the two lovers when the two accused each other of theft resulting in the initial complaint by Reginald and subsequently officially petitioning the courts.