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A SALES girl who stole an amount of GH�8,000 from a hairdresser in a banking hall has been sentenced to two years� imprisonment in hard labour. The accused person, Gladys Akua Amponsah, had posed as a worker at the Tudu branch of Ecobank and approached the victim under the pretext of helping her pay the said amount into her account. However, after taking the money, she vanished into thin air. The CCTV cameras at the banking hall exposed her, leading to her prosecution. At the court presided over by Ebenezer Osei Darko, the accused pleaded guilty to the offence amidst tears, begging for forgiveness. The trial judge sentenced her accordingly to serve as a deterrent to others. Chief Inspector Anthony Afetsi, the prosecutor, presenting the facts, stated that the complainant, Joyce Abby, was a sales girl at a retail electrical shop at the Opera Square in Accra, and the accused, Gladys Akua Amponsah, a hairdresser at Senya in the Central Region. He narrated that on March 14, 2012, the complainant went to Ecobank, Tudu branch, to transfer an amount of GH�8,000 into the accounts of her employers� business partner. While going through the transfer process, Gladys approached the complainant and introduced herself as a staff of the bank who was to assist her through the process. The convict then took the complainant to the second banking hall located on the first floor of the building and reportedly collected the money from the complainant, after which she asked her to wait there while she did the transfer for her. According to the prosecutor, the convict descended the staircase to the ground floor and bolted with the money through the bank�s main exit. After waiting for hours without her return, the victim realised that the convict had left the banking hall and raised the alarm, but Gladys could not be traced. A report was made to the Accra Central police and when investigation was conducted, it was observed that the activities of the convict were captured by the CCTV installation at the banking hall. The prosecutor informed the court that the Accra Central Police, on May 3, 2012, reacted to a publication about a woman arrested by police at Akim Oda for stealing at various banks, using the same modus operandi. The convict was identified by the complainant after she was arrested at Akim Oda. The convict was escorted to Accra and shown the playback of the CCTV recording of the March 14, 2012. Gladys, without hesitation, admitted to the offence and reportedly explained that she used the money to complete a three-bedroom house.