A former branch manager of Fidelity Bank has been sentenced to ten years in hard labour by the Accra High Court for stealing significant sums of money from the institution. The court presided over by Justice Mary Ekue Yanzuh delivered the judgment after Gabriel Edzordzi Kpodo was found guilty of 23 counts of stealing and money laundering according to a MyJoyOnline report.
Court records indicate that the convict diverted a total of 2.1 million Ghana Cedis from several customer accounts into private accounts he controlled. The illicit activities took place over a period while he served as the branch manager at the bank location in Tesano. This case was the result of an internal audit that uncovered discrepancies in deposit records as detailed by a Citi Newsroom report.
State prosecutors established that Kpodo targeted specific dormant and high value accounts to facilitate the unauthorized transfers. The Graphic Online report on the matter noted that the stolen funds were used to acquire various properties including vehicles and real estate which the court has ordered to be confiscated by the state to mitigate the losses incurred by the bank.
During the proceedings the defense counsel pleaded for leniency citing that the convict was a first time offender. However the presiding judge emphasized that the sentence should serve as a deterrent to others in the banking sector who might consider abusing their positions of trust. The GhanaWeb report confirms that the convict started his sentence immediately following the ruling at the Nsawam Medium Security Prison.