The Achimota Circuit Court has accused a lawyer and four other people of forging a will.
Conspiracy charges have been brought against 57-year-old lawyer Joseph Kwow Addo Sam, 82-year-old Chief Alhaji Seidu Adam Baba, and at-large individuals Abdullai Salia, also known as Abdullai Salia Junior, Abubakar Salia, and Saeed Salia.
Sam and Baba are also charged with changing falsified documents and forging official documents.
In addition, Sam, Salia, Abubakar, and Saeed are charged with one further count of perjury.
Under the direction of Mrs. Akosua Abokyewaa Adjepong, the court granted Sam bail in the amount of GHC200,000 with three sureties, one of whom had to be a resident of the jurisdiction and make GHC3,000 a year as a public servant.
Every two weeks on Tuesdays, Sam has to report to the police as well.
Baba, the other accused, had already entered a plea of not guilty to all of the accusations and was given GHC150,000 in bond.
Saeed Salia’s recent arrest resulted in a postponement of his plea.
Sam, who was represented by Bernard Koranteng Obiri, requested bail on the grounds that he was a family man who maintained a legal practice and lived at a regular home.
Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Isaac Babayi headed the prosecution, and they did not object to the bail.
The prosecution promised to change the facts.
According to testimony given in court, Alhaji Seidu Adam Baba is the Banda Chief of Accra, and all of the other defendants—aside from the attorney—are siblings.
Idris Salia, the complainant, was a businessman, according to the prosecution.
The prosecution claims that the complainant’s father was the late Alhaji Salia Abdullai, who is presently on trial alongside his three siblings.
The court was informed that upon their father’s death on June 23, 2021, a will was presented, allegedly the last one he had lodged at the High Court’s Probate Division registry since May 7, 2004.
The prosecution claimed that Alhaji Salia Abdullai and the late Tony Kenyin Foli were present when the will was made.
According to the report, the complainant grew suspicious after obtaining a copy of the will, carrying out his own private investigations, and discovering that Tony Kenyin Foli’s and his late father’s signatures on the document were fake.
As a result, the complainant filed a request for an investigation with the Director General of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID).
Once more, the Registrar, High Court, and Probate Division provided a certified true copy of the will, and the Regional Police headquarters provided a copy of Tony Kenyin Foli’s comments.
The prosecution stated that in order to collect signature samples of their late father, investigations were conducted at Ecobank, Ghana Commercial Bank, and the Registrar General’s Department.
Promotion
Following forensic analysis of every signature, it was discovered that the contested signatures on the will and probate paperwork (Judicial Form 35) were not the signatures of the individuals listed.
The prosecution said that it was proven that Sam had planned the counterfeit will of the late Alhaji Salia Abdullai with the other four accused parties, and that Baba had signed the document as a witness.
Based on the fake will, the three siblings standing trial petitioned for a grant of probate to High Court 2, Accra, on November 8, 2021.
Sam was detained after the complainant filed a police petition. He later acknowledged in his caution statement to the police that he had drafted the late Alhaji Salia Abdullai’s last will and placed it in the High Court’s Probate Division Registry on May 7, 2004.
Promotion
According to the prosecution, the probate form was obtained through deception and signed by Saeed and Abubakar Salia, who are now at large.