The Circuit Court in Accra, presided over by His Honour Isaac Addo, has sentenced a 29-year-old trader, Boniface Zuur, to five years in prison for stealing GH¢130,000 from a seamstress under the guise of safeguarding her money.
Zuur later confessed to using the entire amount to gamble on the Aviator online betting game.
He will serve his sentence at the Nsawam Medium Security Prison after pleading guilty to stealing, contrary to Section 124(1) of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29).
Zuur, a mobile money merchant residing at Maamobi in the Greater Accra Region, was convicted for dishonestly appropriating funds entrusted to him by the complainant, Yussif Zoogah, a seamstress and cloth trader who lived in the same house.
According to the prosecution, led by Inspector Vivian T. Gyabaah, the incident began in May 2025 when the complainant received suspicious calls from mobile money fraudsters.
Fearing she might fall victim to a scam, she asked Zuur to withdraw cash from her MoMo account and keep it securely until she needed it.
Over time, Zuur withdrew a total of GH¢130,000 in multiple transactions. On July 9, 2025, when the complainant requested the return of her money, he admitted to having spent all of it on Aviator, a popular online betting platform.
A report was lodged at the Kotobabi Police Station, and Zuur was arrested by No. 51090 D/CPL Senyo Mawusi. In his caution statement, he confessed to using the funds for gambling.
He was subsequently charged and arraigned before the court.
In delivering the sentence, His Honour Isaac Addo highlighted the breach of trust and the growing problem of online gambling among young people, stressing that a custodial sentence was necessary as a deterrent to others.
