Lady who faked her kidnapping jailed 6 years by Takoradi court

Joana Krah, the woman who faked her own kidnapping over the weekend in Takoradi, has been sentenced to six years in prison after pleading guilty.

She was charged with deceiving a public officer and the publication of false news with intent to cause fear and panic.

The judge, Michael Kudjo Ampadu, sentenced the accused to six years’ imprisonment with hard labour for the first charge and two years’ imprisonment for the second, with the sentences to run concurrently.

The statement from the police said Krah conspired with two others to “feign her kidnapping” on Friday (22 October) and subsequently called her adoptive father to demand a ransom of GHC5,000.

Although an earlier police statement had said that Krah conspired with two other suspects – Susan Awortwe and Francis Eshun – to fake the kidnapping, they were not brought to court.

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“When Joana Krah became aware that her adopted father had reported to the police and an extensive search had commenced to find her, she showed up at the Takoradi Central Police Station, Saturday (23 October), to confess of only joking with her adopted father that she was kidnapped,” the police statement said.

“We are further advising the public to desist from … faking kidnapping for monetary gains, since it is a criminal act,” said the acting director general in charge of public affairs with the Ghana Police Service, ACP Kwesi Ofori.

“Such perpetrators will be dealt with in accordance with the laws of the state.”