Twenty-three-year-old Emmanuel Marfo is in police custody after attempting to pass as a lawyer at the Koforidua Circuit Court Friday. 

Marfo claimed to be a defense attorney in a civil dispute between Peter Amanor and Hanson Annoh, who alleges that Amanor failed to pay Annoh for money he lent him.

According to Ebenezer Tetteh, Public Relations Officer for the Police in the Eastern Region, Judge Evelyn Asamoah grew suspicious when Marfo (who was defending Amanor) threw incorrect legal jargon during the case.

Read more: Man arrested for impersonating police officer

The judge proceeded to ask Marfo where he attended school. He replied that he went to the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration’s (GIMPA) School of Law. He was then asked to furnish proof, but none was available.

Asamoah ordered for his arrest. Initial police investigations revealed that Marfo never took nor passed the bar examination.

A man who requested to stand in as surety to bail Marfo was also arrested after he claimed to be a banker. But investigations revealed that he, too, was an impersonator. While he worked at a bank in the past, he is currently unemployed.

“This is how messy this whole thing became,” said Tetteh. “If it turns out that [you aren’t who you say you are], you can be prosecuted for deceiving a public officer.”

Marfo has been charged on two counts: Deceit of the court and impersonation. He is currently awaiting arraignment.