Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Dr. Dominic Ayine, has disclosed that Gifty Oware-Mensah, former Deputy Executive Director of the National Service Authority (NSA), masterminded a fraudulent scheme that led to the misappropriation of over GH¢30 million in public funds.
Addressing a press conference in Accra on Friday, June 13, Dr. Ayine said the findings are part of ongoing investigations by the Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) taskforce into financial malfeasance at the NSA.
According to the Attorney General, Gifty Oware-Mensah exploited the National Service Personnel (NSP) allowance system by using it as security to secure a GH¢30,698,218.69 million loan from the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) at a 23% interest rate.
“Some directors, such as Gifty Oware-Mensah, created and executed a meticulously detailed plan, using NSP allowances as security to obtain a loan of thirty million six hundred and ninety-eight thousand, two hundred and eighteen cedis, sixty-nine pesewas (GH¢30,698,218.69) from the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) at an interest rate of twenty-three percent (23%).”
She allegedly registered a company, “Blocks of Life Consult,” using the identities of individuals without their knowledge, and presented it to ADB through a middleman, Maxwell Akwesi Ofori-Mintah.
“Her husband, Peter Mensah, a lawyer, acted as one of the company’s representatives. She told ADB the company specialised in supplying home appliances to National Service personnel on a hire-purchase basis, to be repaid via deductions managed by the NSA,” Dr. Ayine said, noting that Oware-Mensah was acting director of the NSA at the time, but the company was not a recognised vendor with the Authority.
Dr. Ayine added that over the 2022/2023 and 2023/2024 service years, Oware-Mensah used 9,934 ghost names to divert funds.
After ADB disbursed the loan, the funds were allegedly transferred to four company accounts: AMAECOM, Scafold, OTCHEY, and Aristo Logistics and Trading.
She transferred:
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GH¢22,925,518.69 to AMAECOM (a company she is a director of),
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GH¢1,000,000.00 to Scafold (linked to Abraham Gaisie),
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GH¢1,572,700.00 to OTCHEY, and
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GH¢5,200,000.00 to Aristo Logistics and Trading.
The Attorney General stated that further legal action would follow as investigations continue into what he described as a “deliberate and sophisticated attempt to loot state resources.”
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