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A Togolese National has been sentenced to 20 years imprisonment in hard labour by an Accra Circuit Court for stealing a Toyota Hiace Urvan belonging to the management of the Oscar Park Hotel at East Legon, Accra. Eric Gaisie, who is a driver of the hotel, was supposed to pick up a potential customer with the said vehicle from the Ministry of Trade and Industry, but took the vehicle into hiding and told management that the car was missing. He, together with the director of the hotel, lodged a complaint at the police station as witness, but the police later became suspicious of Eric Gaisie�s caution statement. According to him, after he had arrived at the premises of the Ministry of Trade and Industry in Accra, he alighted from the vehicle without putting off the engine, and without noticing, a companion of the potential customer drove the vehicle away. The police, after listening to his statement pronounced him as a suspect and made him to write another statement. This time, writing as a suspect, he indicated that he was convinced by the said customer to take a rest elsewhere, whilst they used the vehicle for errands, which according to him, he obliged without informing his management. The investigators, after getting hold of both statements came to the realization that Eric Gaisie had stolen the vehicle and was just trying to deceive the police as both statements conflict each other. Eric Gaisie, who had earlier pleaded not guilty to the charge of stealing, was found guilty by the court after the prosecution had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt. On December 24, 2012, Eric Gaisie, in charge of Toyota Hiace Urvan with the registration number GT 3806-11 was assigned by the management of the Hotel to meet a potential customer at the Ministry of Trade and Industry. The prosecutor Detective Inspector Isaac Agbemhie told the court that the mobile number of the said customer was given to the convict to establish contact with him at the Ministry. He said, Eric Gaisie, who went on the said assignment at about 8:30am after fuelling the vehicle, claimed to have released the vehicle to the customer at the ministry without informing the management of the hotel. �The complainant, after some time contacted Eric Gaisie on his cell phone, when he was not coming, but he started telling different stories. At about 8:45pm the complainant met the convict without the vehicle,� the prosecutor stated. Detective Inspector Agbemhie recounted that the convict said the vehicle was missing and could not give any tangible reason so as a result a report was lodged at the police station.