The Ajumako District Magistrate's Court has fined two chainsaw operators GH¢ 1,600.00 each for defrauding Baaba Shaibu of Breman Essiam the sum of GH¢ 1,200.00 under the pretext of supplying him sawn boards.
Kwame Oboh, 40, and Kwabena Obiri, 69, pleaded guilty. They would go to prison for 15 months each in hard labour if they fail to pay their fines.
In prosecuting the two, Police Inspector Ben Appiah told the court, presided over by Mr Kofi Boakye Enimil, that on July 22, this year, the complainant, Mr Shaibu, paid GH¢ 1,200.00 to the accused persons to supply him with some sawn boards for his project.
But after collecting the money, the accused persons refused to supply the boards to the complainant despite the several approaches he made.
Inspector Appiah added that later the accused persons demanded a bottle of Schnapps from Shaibu to pour libation in the forest where they would be felling the trees for the boards.
However, the complainant later learned that the accused persons were not the owners of the land and reported the matter to the police for their arrest.