A 38-year-old private bailiff, Kojo Budu Jackson, has been sentenced to four years imprisonment with hard labour by the Accra Circuit Court after pleading guilty to forging official court documents.
Presiding judge, Her Honour Basilia Adjei-Tawiah, handed down the sentence on Tuesday following Jackson’s change of plea from not guilty to guilty in a case involving the forgery of a divorce-related judicial order.
Prosecuting officer, DSP Emmanuel Nyamekye, told the court that the convict forged a District Court Order for a Certificate of Divorce, bearing the forged signature of His Worship K.B. Frempong, a former magistrate of the Ejisu District Court.
The document was purported to have been issued by the court to falsely validate a divorce.
The accused was charged under Section 158(1) of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29), for forgery of judicial documents—a felony offence.
According to facts presented in court, in June 2024, police received intelligence linking Jackson and his accomplices—who are still on the run—to the fraudulent production of marriage and divorce certificates. Based on the tip-off, law enforcement mounted surveillance, leading to Jackson’s arrest on August 13, 2024.
A search of his Dansoman residence revealed multiple fake documents, including affidavits and forged certificates intended to pass as official court-issued records.
During interrogation, Jackson admitted to the crime, citing financial distress and an urgent need to settle his rent obligations as motivation for the act.
The court imposed a custodial sentence of four years and an additional fine of 200 penalty units, equivalent to GH¢2,400. Failure to pay the fine within a month will attract an extra one-year jail term, which could extend his total prison time to five years.
In her sentencing remarks, Her Honour Basilia Adjei-Tawiah described Jackson’s actions as a grave affront to the integrity of Ghana’s judicial system.
She stressed that forging documents in the name of the judiciary, particularly with a magistrate’s forged signature, seriously erodes public confidence in the legal process and must be met with deterrent punishment.
Police investigations to identify and apprehend Jackson’s accomplices remain ongoing.
