A 30 year-old Petrol Chemical Engineer, who graduated from the university with first class Honours, Felix Sieyi, had been jailed six years for breaking into his former boss’ office to steal money.
Sieyi stole from his employer, Mental Craft Engineering Company Limited, an estimated amount of GH¢34.772.00.
He was jailed by an Accra Circuit Court, presided over by Patricia Amponsah on Friday, November 9, 2022.
The court found him guilty on causing unlawful damage, unlawful entry and stealing.
On unlawful damage, he was given three years, for unlawful entry he had six years, and for stealing he had six years. The counts are to run co-currently.
His lawyers pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy, as he owns a cleaning company with 12 employees, whose livelihoods depend on his business.
Similarly, he has a mother who he was fending for, since the demise of his father.
According to his counsel, the court should consider a non-custodial sentence to enable him contribute his quota to development as a citizen.
Furthermore, his counsel prayed the court to consider him because he is a first time offender.
The court refused the prayer and said he needs to be punished to deter others from doing the same, as his conduct could have affected or impugned other employees of the company.
Mrs Amponsah said despite the fact that all evidences pointing to his quilt, he maintained that he was innocent, to the extent of calling a witness and tendering pictures to justify his inclusion.
Meanwhile, she said there was no doubt that the image in the CCTV footage was Sieyi, yet he denied he was the one and that, he was out with friends in at material time.
The case, as prosecuted by Chief Inspector John Gohoho, was that the complainants in the case were workers of Mental Craft Engineering Company limited, located at Darkuma, in Accra.
He said Felix Sieyi worked with the company, as Assistant Safety Manager.
However, he resigned from the company on December 7, 2018 following disciplinary measures meted out against him in an issue of misconduct.
The company between 2017 and 2019 recorded missing cash, totalling GH¢29,272.00 from some of its offices.
To catch the culprit, a different company was contracted to fix secret CCTV cameras at vantage points, facing the finance and other offices, in October 2019.
Just a month after the CCTV camera installation,on November 5, 2019 the company once again recorded another theft case of GH¢5,000.00 from the Chief Executive Officer’s (CEO) office. Lo and behold, when the officer in charge of monitoring the CCTV camera checked and reviewed its operations on the said date, it captured their former employee, Sieyi. A report was made to the police and the culprit was arrested.
During investigation, the CCTV footage was played by the police in the presence of the convict. He then admitted that he visited his former workplace late in the night to take the money from the CEO’s office drawer.
The CCTV cameras recorded Sieyi entering the company’s premises at 22.17.24 and switched off the lights, before causing damage to the window burglar proof, to give him access into the CEO’s office to steal the money from his drawer.
He also managed to enter other offices as well and searched the drawers, before leaving the company’s premises at 22: 32: 32 on the same day.
Cumulatively, monies missing from the office was GH¢34.772.00.
Sieyi partly succeeded with the crime, due to the company’s security unit not aware that he no longer works with them. It was after the police investigations that Sieyi was charged and brought before the court.
