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38 year old Eunice Boateng, the lady behind the false accusation of defilement against Arthur Paes, an expatriate and owner of the African Royal Beach Hotel at Nungua, was on Tuesday, 12th February 2013, granted a GHc 5000.00 bail with two sureties by an Accra Circuit Court to reappear on 12th March 2013. Eunice Boateng, who is now facing two (2) counts of possessing Forged Documents contrary to Section 166 of the Criminal and other Offences Act of 19/60 (Act 29) and Deceit of a Public Officer Contrary to Section 251 of Criminal and other Offences Act of 19/60, pleaded not guilty to all the two counts when she appeared before the court. Reading the facts of the case, Prosecutor ASP Celina Acquah indicated that the accused is a business woman and guardian to Georgina Donkor, the victim and lives at Nungua, Accra. According to the prosecutor, on 23/12/2010 at 4:30 pm, the accused accompanied the victim to DOVVSU/AR and reported a defilement case against an expatriate, one Arthur Paes owner of African Royal Beach Hotel at Nungua, Accra. The accused gave the victim�s age as 15 whilst the victim claimed she was 16, prompting the Investigator to request for the Birth Certificate of the victim because of the conflicting date of birth given. But the accused failed to produce the Birth Certificate. The case docket, according to the prosecutor, was then forwarded to the Attorney General�s Department for study and advice. ASP Celina Acquah further stated that whilst the complainant was awaiting the A-G�s next line of action, the accused on 29/02/2012 produced a Birth Certificate bearing the name of the victim Georgina Donkor with an entry number 5545 registered on 20th December 2010, and issued on 23rd December 2010; the very date she accompanied the victim to lodge her complaint. She further narrated that the Birth Certificate indicated the date of birth of the victim as 10th October, 1994, however when it was sent to the Registrar of Births and Deaths to ascertain its authenticity, the result showed that the said Birth Certificate purported to have been issued at 37 Military Hospital Registry was a forgery and the entry number 5545 was for one Florence Aboaggye, and not Georgina Donkor the victim. In addition, records obtained from victim Georgina Donkor�s Ghanaian passport number H0962148 issued on 20th September 2002 showed her date of birth as 10th October 1991 which was confirmed by the Passport office to be genuine. The Prosecutor revealed that to the court that investigations were extended to Victory International Junior Secondary School at Avoeme-Aflao in the Volta Region where the victim had her basic education. �The school records and that of her Junior High School Certificate showed her date of birth as 10th October 1991 and not 10th October 1994 as stated on the Birth Certificate produced by the accused,� the prosecutor added. It was also revealed that the victim in her initial statement to the Police stated that she was born at Mankessim in the Central Region, however the accused claimed the victim was born at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra raising more doubts about the authenticity of the Birth Certificate. According to the brief sheet of the Investigator, all the documents were then forwarded to the Attorney-General�s Department for scrutiny. ASP Celina Acquah said on 15/10/2012, an advice was received from the A-G�s Department signed by Dufie Prempeh, Assistant State Attorney indicating that it is highly conspicuous from the evidence gathered so far that there are lots of inconsistencies in the story of the victim and the accused. It added that the age of the victim given by the accused, the forged Birth Certificate and the Basic School Certificate showed that her claim of defilement is not to be believed and that the facts do not add up to sustain a charge of defilement against Arthur Paes and for that matter the charge should be dropped. The advice from the A-G�s office further stated that the accused person should rather be charged for the offence stated above as she is the one behind the fabrication of the story and the forged documents as well as statement given to the Police which she knew at the time of providing the information that it was false. The investigator recounted in his brief that the accused was then arrested and during interrogation she stated among other things that the Birth Certificate of the complainant was prepared for her by someone. The accused declined to name the one who prepared the forged Birth Certificate for her at the 37 Military Hospital Registry and promised to produce the person in court as her witness but she never did when she appeared before the court. Counsel for the accused, Louis Kudjo, then pleaded for bail on behalf of his client saying the accused happens to be a married woman with children and keeping her in custody will have untold hardship on her family. The Judge Sedina Agbamava later granted the accused bail in the sum of GHc 5000.00 with two sureties and ordered that she is made to reappear on 12th March 2013.