Court jails businessman for stealing 277 cartons of empty bottles

An Accra Circuit Court has sentenced Richard Yevugah, a 50-year-old businessman, to eight years in prison for stealing 277 cartons of empty bottles valued at GH¢336,327.

The bottles were meant for packaging moringa snuff, a herbal medicine produced by his employer, Abdul Mumuni Ahmed.

According to the prosecution, led by Chief Inspector Ebenezer Teye Okuffo, Yevugah was an employee assisting in the production of moringa snuff at Nima, Accra, where both he and the complainant lived.

Mr Ahmed had purchased 419 cartons of bottles with covers, collecting 277 cartons for production. However, before the work could begin, he fell ill and stored the bottles in two rented rooms.

Yevugah helped move the bottles and was given a spare key for safekeeping.

On June 11, 2022, around 7:15 p.m., a witness, Suraji Alhassan Ahmed, saw Yevugah loading the bottles onto a vehicle and alerted the complainant.

Mr Ahmed rushed to Yevugah’s home, confronted him, and later escorted him to the Nima Police Station to file an official complaint.

During investigations, Yevugah admitted to taking 100 boxes of the bottles, claiming he used them to produce his own snuff, which he allegedly exported to Nigeria with the complainant’s consent.

The court, however, rejected this explanation.

Presiding judge Susana Eduful found him guilty of stealing after a full trial and sentenced him to eight years imprisonment.

The ruling, prosecutors say, serves as a warning to employees who abuse workplace trust and misappropriate company property for personal gain.