General News of Monday, 28 May 2018
Source: mynewsgh.com
2018-05-28
Alexander Tweneboah was jailed 2 years for sim box fraud
A member of the pressure group OccupyGhana and a self-acclaimed Freemason, Dr Alexander Tweneboah who was jailed for sim box fraud will be released from jail next month, MyNewsGh.com has learnt.
The former boss of the Ghana Real Estate Developers Association GREDA, Dr Tweneboah was charged with SIM-box fraud and was sentenced to two years in prison in July 2016.
The court also asked him to pay a penalty of Gh¢24,000 following the passage of his sentence.
The ‘Occupier’ and Freemason faced charges of providing electronic communication service without license and possession of illegal device.
Other charges at the time included obstruction and interference of transmission, delivery and reception of communication.
At the Fast Track High Court im Accra, where he was sentenced, the presiding judge Justice Efua Serwa Botwe said no one was above the law before jailing him with hard Labour for SIM Box Fraud.
Dr Tweneboah was arrested at his residence at Baatsona, Manet area, on January 2015, where several items, including one SIM Box with 64-slot SIM server, 4G Internet Modem, a laptop computer and a mini antenna were retrieved.
The prosecutor said Dr Tweneboah was, subsequently, traced and arrested. The prosecutor also said Dr. Tweneboah claimed ownership of the equipment and admitted using them to terminate international calls illegally. He had pleaded not guilty to the charge of SIM box fraud but delivering her judgement, Justice Botwe said considering his standing in society he should have known better than to engage in such a crime.
She said that the jail term was a lenient one because Dr Tweneboah had operated the SIM box fraud for less than six months.
The former GREDA Boss is set to be released.
Freemasonry
MyNewsGh.com learnt his membership of the Masons Lodge was suspended following his conviction, as he has brought shame to the fraternity.
Dr Tweneboah reportedly said he engaged in SIM Box fraud to cater for some costs as Real Estate wasn’t paying as it was supposed to at a point. He had barely begun the SIM BOX Fraud when the law enforcement agencies grabbed him.