An Accra Circuit Court has sentenced Richard Yevugah, a businessman, to eight years imprisonment for stealing 277 cartons of empty bottles, worth GHC 336,327, to be used in packaging Moringa snuff.

Yevugah, charged with stealing, pleaded not guilty. The court, presided over by Susana Eduful, at the end of the trial, found him guilty and sentenced him accordingly.

The prosecution, led by Ebenezer Teye Okuffo, said the complainant, Abdul Mumuni Ahmed, was a herbalist who used moringa snuff as part of his herbal medicine.

Yevugah was an employee of the complainant, and they all resided at Nima in Accra. Prosecution said the complainant employed Yevugah to assist in the moringa snuff production.

The complainant bought 419 cartons of empty bottles with covers, valued at GHC336,327, to be used for moringa snuff products, out of which he collected 277 cartons from the company.

Prosecution said a few days after bringing the containers, the complainant fell ill and was unable to produce the moringa snuff to fill the containers.

He, therefore, rented two rooms at Nima, where Yevugah assisted in parking the said boxes of containers into the rooms, and a spare key was given to Yevugah for safekeeping.

On June 11, 2022, at about 1915 hours, the complainant received information from one Suraji Alhassan Ahmed, a witness in the case, that Yevugah had brought in a vehicle, loaded all the empty bottles onto it, and sent them away.

Prosecution said the complainant rushed to Yevugah’s house, where he fortunately met him, and escorted him to the police station in Nima to make an official complaint.

During investigations, Yevugah admitted the offence in his investigation caution statement and told the police that he took 100 boxes of empty bottles, produced his personal snuff, and sent them to Nigeria to be sold with the complainant’s consent.