The Office of the Special Prosecutor has filed a series of criminal charges against former Finance Minister Kenneth Nana Yaw Ofori-Atta, former Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) Commissioner-General, Emmanuel Kofi Nti, former Customs Division Commissioner, Isaac Crentsil, and executives of Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited over alleged financial misconduct and abuse of public office.
The charges, filed in the High Court of Justice (Criminal Division) in Accra, relate to procurement irregularities and the unlawful awarding of contracts to Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited between 2017 and 2020.
According to the charge sheet, the accused allegedly conspired to influence the procurement process to obtain unfair advantages, caused financial loss to the state, and used their public offices for personal or corporate gain.
The accused in the case filed by the Office of the Special Prosecutor are former Finance Minister Kenneth Nana Yaw Ofori-Atta; Ernest Darko Akore, Chef de Cabinet of the Ministry of Finance; former Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) Commissioner-General, Emmanuel Kofi Nti; Dr. Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah, a former Commissioner-General of Ghana Revenue Authority; former GRA Customs Division Commissioner, Isaac Crentsil; Kwadwo Damoah, Commissioner of the Customs Division of Ghana Revenue Authority.
The others are Evans Adusei, the beneficial owner and CEO of Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited; and the corporate entity itself, Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited. They are collectively facing a total of 78 criminal charges, including conspiracy to influence procurement, causing financial loss to the state, abuse of public office for profit, wilful oppression, and issuing false certificates as public officers.
Key allegations include:
Conspiracy to influence procurement: The former Finance Minister, GRA officials, and Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited are accused of colluding to secure contracts for “enhanced classification, valuation, and risk management” services and transaction audit services through the single-source method without the statutory approval of the Public Procurement Authority.
Financial loss to the Republic: The charges allege that the accused caused Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited to be paid millions of Ghana cedis for purported services that were either not performed or lacked validation, resulting in substantial financial loss to the state. Total alleged losses outlined in the charges include GH¢18,556,390.28, GH¢15,938,254.55, and GH¢19,604,131.43 for various contracts.
Abuse of public office for profit: The charges further claim that the accused, while holding public office, corruptly facilitated payments to Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited, enabling private profit or benefit at the expense of the public.
False certification and wilful oppression: Emmanuel Kofi Nti, in particular, is accused of certifying payments to Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited without verifying service performance, and of awarding contracts despite disapproval from the Public Procurement Authority.
The charge sheet lists a total of 78 counts, including conspiracy, causing financial loss, directly influencing procurement, wilful oppression, and issuing false certificates as public officers.
Source: Channelonenewsonline.com
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