Lawyer, four others in court over forged wil

A lawyer and four others have been put before the Achimota Circuit Court for allegedly falsifying a will.

Joseph Kwow Addo Sam, a 57-year-old lawyer, Alhaji Seidu Adam Baba, an 82-year-old Chief, Abdullai Salia, also known as Abdullai Salia Junior, Abubakar Salia, and Saeed Salia, all of whom are at large, have been charged with conspiracy.

Sam and Baba are facing additional charges of forgery of official documents and altering forged documents.

Sam, Salia, Abubakar, and Saeed are also facing another charge of perjury.
The court, presided over by Mrs Akosua Abokyewaa Adjepong, admitted Sam to bail in the sum of GHC200,000 with three sureties, one of whom must be a public servant earning GHC3,000 and must live within the jurisdiction.

Sam is also required to report to the police on Tuesdays every fortnight.

Baba, the second accused, was earlier granted bail in the sum of GHC150,000 after pleading not guilty to the various charges.

Saeed Salia’s plea was deferred due to his recent arrest.
Sam, represented by Bernard Koranteng Obiri, sought bail, claiming he was a family person with a fixed address who managed a law practice.

The prosecution, led by Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Isaac Babayi, did not oppose the bail.

The prosecution said the facts would be amended.

The court heard that Alhaji Seidu Adam Baba is the Banda Chief in Accra and that the rest of the accused persons except for the lawyer, were siblings.

The prosecution said the complainant, Idris Salia, was a businessman.

The complainant’s father, according to the prosecution, was the late Alhaji Salia Abdullai, currently on trial with his three siblings.

The court heard that after the death of their father on June 23, 2021, a will was produced and said to be the last will their father deposited at the registry of the High Court, Probate Division since May 7, 2004.

The prosecution said the will was witnessed by the late Tony Kenyin Foli and Alhaji Salia Abdullai.
It said the complainant became suspicious when he obtained a copy of the will, conducted his private checks and found out that his late father and Tony Kenyin Foli’s signatures on the said will had been forged.

The complainant, therefore, petitioned the Director General of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) for investigations.

Again, a certified true copy of the will was obtained from the Registrar, High Court, and probate Division and a copy of Tony Kenyin Foli’s statements were obtained from the Regional Police headquarters.

The prosecution said investigations were extended to Ecobank, Ghana Commercial Bank and the Registrar Generals Department where signature samples of their late father were obtained.

All the signatures were sent for forensic examination, and it became known that the disputed signatures on the will and probate forms (Judicial Form 35) were not authored by the named persons.

The prosecution said it was established that Sam conspired with the four accused persons to prepare the forged will of late Alhaji Salia Abdullai and Baba signed as a witness.

On November 8, 2021, the three siblings standing trial applied to High Court 2, Accra for grant Probate based on the forged will.

The complainant petitioned the Police and Sam was arrested and in his caution statement to the Police, he admitted that he prepared the last will of late Alhaji Salia Abdullai and deposited it at the Registry of the High Court, Probate Division on May 7, 2004.

The prosecution said Abubakar Salia and Saeed Salia, both at large, signed the probate form which was procured through fraud.