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A 56-YEAR-OLD ex-seaman, Peter Yawson, has been sentenced to eight years imprisonment in hard labour by the Tarkwa Circuit Court for defrauding four persons to the tune of GH₵1,880. The accused, who pleaded guilty to the charge of fraud, is already serving a two-year jail term for a similar offence. Prosecuting, Police Chief Inspector Edward Paddy told the court presided over by Justice Mr Justice Samuel Obeng Diawuo that in June 2013, Yawson, who resides at Daboase near Sekondi, approached the complainants � Philip Quainoo, Isaac Armah, David Cobbinah and Jonas Kwandoh, who are all welders � and collected a total sum of GH₵1,880 with the promise of assisting them to get employed as welders in a fishing company based in Tema. After collecting the money, the accused gave the complainants letters of acknowledgment and an official receipt allegedly bearing a company�s stamp and promised the complainants that he would take them to the company's office for interview between July and August that year for an interview at the company�s premises, but he disappeared. Chief Inspector Paddy said the accused failed to honour his promise and disappeared and all efforts by the complainants to find the accused proved futile. He said on April 4, this year, Yawson was arrested at Dompim No. 2, near Sekondi, upon a tip-off and he was handed over to the police at Nsuaem for investigation.