A 22-year-old man has been thrust into the unforgiving grip of prison due to some posts he made on his WhatsApp status.
Richard Addy, prior to his incarceration, worked at a block factory. His life, however, was plunged into disarray following an alleged theft transpired at his workplace.
Richard was going about his usual duties when he made the decision to travel and visit his ailing father. Coincidentally, during this period, a total of GHC11,960 mysteriously disappeared from the premises.
Narrating his side of the story to the Crime Check Foundation, he said he was named the prime suspect in the theft case due to his absence from the workplace that moment.
“I was working with my boss, but on a particular day, I left to visit my father upon learning of his illness. When I came back, I opted to visit my stepmother and spend some time there. During my stay at her place, I received a call from a friend informing me of the robbery.
“He told me that my boss said he has been robbed and that I’m the prime suspect. I hadn’t received any call from my boss so I told him, I did not know anything about the case. Another guy from our workplace also called me to inform me about the matter and I told him I wasn’t aware but three days after my arrival at my stepmother’s house, a team from the Criminal Investigative Department (CID) came to arrest me,” he recalled.
His boss, however, gave a different narrative of the situation.
Speaking to his boss, he acknowledged that Richard traveled, however, the sum of GHC11,960 suddenly got missing, alongside a television set and a gun.
There were attempts to reach him for questions about the theft but he never answered any of his calls. This triggered his boss to cause the arrest of some of his co-workers but upon further observations, his suspicion was confirmed.
“We tried to reach Richard on various occasions but to no avail because he wasn’t answering any of his calls. But later, his friends showed me posts on his status suggesting he was having a good life, chilling at various luxurious hotels, etc. and this made me call for his arrest,” Richard’s former boss stated.
Richard as of the time of filing this report was sill in custody and is expected to serve a five year jail sentence for the offense.