Page One. November 17, 2007
Story: Albert K. Salia
NINE people have been arrested in Accra and Kumasi by a Special Investigation Task Force for their alleged roles in the forgery of vital national documents which deprived the state of huge sums of money in domestic non-tax revenue.
They have been accused of conniving and condoning to forge and falsify official documents and pocketing the revenue that was due the state from the payment of fines, fees and charges.
They were arrested on the premises of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) and the Births and Deaths Registry and are currently on bail.
With the exception of one of the suspects, the rest were described as middlemen.
They are Tahiru Chimburi, alias Djamba; Kojo Aboagye, James Amoako, all of whom were arrested at the DVLA offices in Accra, with Kenneth Afriyie Mensah and Ahmed Shamsudeen being arrested in Kumasi.
An official of the Births and Deaths Registry, Samuel Jojo Dolphyne, together with Ernest Amofa, 71, and his son, Nana Gyasi Amofa, and Daniel Kwasi Dwira were all arrested at the Births and Deaths Registry.
The Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, told the Daily Graphic that the government had noticed a fall in the non-tax revenue from sources other than taxation from which traditionally most of the domestic revenue was derived.
He said although non-tax revenue had increased steadily since 2002, its mobilisation had encountered various revenue leakage problems.
The leakage, he said, included syndicates running parallel operations to duplicate and falsify documents and services provided by various ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), thereby siphoning revenue which should accrue to the state.
On the methods employed, he said some corrupt MDA officials intentionally slowed down service delivery to create the environment to extort money from clients.
Others, he said, were involved in outright stealing and non lodgement of revenue collected on behalf of the government, poor accounting and reporting of revenue receipts.
Mr Baah-Wiredu said to curtail these bottlenecks, he had requested the services of the security agencies to help apprehend the perpetrators of those crimes against the state and ensure that they were prosecuted.
He said as a result, the Special Investigation Task Force was set up to embark on the exercise to stamp out the illegal operators to help minimise revenue loss to the state.
He said the exercise, which had started at the DVLA and the Births and Deaths Registry, would cover the Registrar-General’s Department and all such agencies throughout the country.
Mr Baah-Wiredu noted that members of the task force, for instance, gave out false information to some of the people arrested to process road worthy certificates, international drivers’ licences and birth certificates.
He said although the suspects refused to mention their accomplices working in those institutions, information gathered was that apart from collecting tips, the officials often pocketed the money that was due the state because of poor accounting practices and the complicity of some accounts staff.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Two in custody over ¢2.4 billion theft
Page 50: November 8, 2007
Story: Albert K. Salia
A Senior accountant at the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department (CAGD) and an Accra-based businessman have been grabbed in the latest scandal to hit the CAGD.
Seth Bosompem, the accountant, and Stephen Trevor Hosiosky, alias Anderson Lokko, are in custody for allegedly defrauding the state of GH ¢245,645.73 (¢2.4 billion). They were arrested when they went to the bank to cash the money.
A source close to the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) told the Daily Graphic yesterday that the CAGD, on September 12, 2007, received a letter from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning to pay Facol Roads Limited GH¢245,645.73 for road marking and traffic signs undertaken on the Kumasi - Mampong, Mankessim - Tetsi, Ejisu - Kumawu - Wuraso, Obuasi - Dunkwa - Ayanfuri and Kumasi - Sunyani roads.
It said Bosompem accordingly processed payment documents and sent them to a Deputy Controller, Madam Grace Adzroe, on September 19, 2007 to be signed.
It said the documents were then forwarded to the Bank of Ghana (BOG) to credit the accounts of the Ministry of Transportation in favour of Facol Roads Ltd.
According to the source, Bosompem, on September 24, 2007, again used the same Ministry of Finance release letter to process another document and this time gave it to the Controller and Accountant General, Mr Christian Sottie, to sign and the letter was instructing the BOG to pay the same amount to the accounts of the Ministry of Transportation in favour of Facol Roads Ltd.
It said this time round, Bosompem forged a Facol Roads Ltd letter directing the BOG to make direct payment into a personal account number 006020202331 being operated at the Airport Resedential Area branch of the Zenith Bank.
The source said it was later detected that the account was owned by Stephen Trevor Hosiosky.
He said the bank detected that the account name did not tally with the account number in their books and alerted Mr Sottie to cross-check the accounts details.
The BNI was then informed to investigate the matter.
According to the source, Stephen went to Zenith Bank on October 19, 2007 to fill a transfer form for the money to be transferred into his personal account and he went to the bank on October 26, 2006 to cash the money but was arrested.
It said a cheque with the face value of ¢360 million which Stephen had issued in the name of Boskin Company Ltd of which Bosompem was a director was retrieved from him.
It said Stephen mentioned Bosompem as his accomplice after he was arrested.
The source said when Bosompem was arrested, he did not deny the allegations.
The source said they had been provisionally charged with conspiracy, forgery of official documents and attempted stealing.
Story: Albert K. Salia
A Senior accountant at the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department (CAGD) and an Accra-based businessman have been grabbed in the latest scandal to hit the CAGD.
Seth Bosompem, the accountant, and Stephen Trevor Hosiosky, alias Anderson Lokko, are in custody for allegedly defrauding the state of GH ¢245,645.73 (¢2.4 billion). They were arrested when they went to the bank to cash the money.
A source close to the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) told the Daily Graphic yesterday that the CAGD, on September 12, 2007, received a letter from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning to pay Facol Roads Limited GH¢245,645.73 for road marking and traffic signs undertaken on the Kumasi - Mampong, Mankessim - Tetsi, Ejisu - Kumawu - Wuraso, Obuasi - Dunkwa - Ayanfuri and Kumasi - Sunyani roads.
It said Bosompem accordingly processed payment documents and sent them to a Deputy Controller, Madam Grace Adzroe, on September 19, 2007 to be signed.
It said the documents were then forwarded to the Bank of Ghana (BOG) to credit the accounts of the Ministry of Transportation in favour of Facol Roads Ltd.
According to the source, Bosompem, on September 24, 2007, again used the same Ministry of Finance release letter to process another document and this time gave it to the Controller and Accountant General, Mr Christian Sottie, to sign and the letter was instructing the BOG to pay the same amount to the accounts of the Ministry of Transportation in favour of Facol Roads Ltd.
It said this time round, Bosompem forged a Facol Roads Ltd letter directing the BOG to make direct payment into a personal account number 006020202331 being operated at the Airport Resedential Area branch of the Zenith Bank.
The source said it was later detected that the account was owned by Stephen Trevor Hosiosky.
He said the bank detected that the account name did not tally with the account number in their books and alerted Mr Sottie to cross-check the accounts details.
The BNI was then informed to investigate the matter.
According to the source, Stephen went to Zenith Bank on October 19, 2007 to fill a transfer form for the money to be transferred into his personal account and he went to the bank on October 26, 2006 to cash the money but was arrested.
It said a cheque with the face value of ¢360 million which Stephen had issued in the name of Boskin Company Ltd of which Bosompem was a director was retrieved from him.
It said Stephen mentioned Bosompem as his accomplice after he was arrested.
The source said when Bosompem was arrested, he did not deny the allegations.
The source said they had been provisionally charged with conspiracy, forgery of official documents and attempted stealing.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Fintrade supports more students
Page 20: November 5, 2007.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Executive Secretary of the Finatrade Foundation, Mr John Awuni, has urged beneficiaries of its scholarship scheme to study hard to justify the continuation of the scheme.
He said although the foundation was committed to human resource development, especially in the agricultural sector, it was important that beneficiaries took their studies seriously.
He said the foundation was happy that the first batch of graduates from the scheme attained first class.
Mr Awuni, who is also the Director of Corporate Affairs of Finatrade Group, made the call when he presented a number of cheques to meet the expenses of beneficiaries for the first semester at the University of Ghana, Legon.
The first batch of 22 beneficiaries completed last academic year, with 46 remaining. Twenty more students are to be enrolled in the scheme from the University of Ghana, Legon, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, University of Cape Coast and University for Development Studies to bring the total to 66 students.
Mr Awuni said the foundation had spent more than ¢1 billion in financial support to the beneficiaries.
He said the essence of the financial aid was to enable the students to focus on their studies, saying that it would be sad that despite such support, the academic performance of the students would be poor.
The Dean of the School of Agriculture at the University of Ghana, Professor Kwame Offei, who received the cheques on behalf of the students and later presented them to the individual beneficiaries, noted that Finatrade Foundation was one of the few organisations funding agricultural education in the country.
He appealed to the foundation to explore the possibilities of financing some infrastructural projects to help create an enabling environment for teaching and learning.
He said he would monitor the performance of the students and anyone found to be slacking academically would be withdrawn.
Prof Offei urged those who had graduated to stay in the country and instead of leaving the shores of the country.
The President of the Finatrade Scholars Association (FinASA), Mr Frank Koomson, noted that the financial support provided by the foundation served as the lifeline on campus.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Executive Secretary of the Finatrade Foundation, Mr John Awuni, has urged beneficiaries of its scholarship scheme to study hard to justify the continuation of the scheme.
He said although the foundation was committed to human resource development, especially in the agricultural sector, it was important that beneficiaries took their studies seriously.
He said the foundation was happy that the first batch of graduates from the scheme attained first class.
Mr Awuni, who is also the Director of Corporate Affairs of Finatrade Group, made the call when he presented a number of cheques to meet the expenses of beneficiaries for the first semester at the University of Ghana, Legon.
The first batch of 22 beneficiaries completed last academic year, with 46 remaining. Twenty more students are to be enrolled in the scheme from the University of Ghana, Legon, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, University of Cape Coast and University for Development Studies to bring the total to 66 students.
Mr Awuni said the foundation had spent more than ¢1 billion in financial support to the beneficiaries.
He said the essence of the financial aid was to enable the students to focus on their studies, saying that it would be sad that despite such support, the academic performance of the students would be poor.
The Dean of the School of Agriculture at the University of Ghana, Professor Kwame Offei, who received the cheques on behalf of the students and later presented them to the individual beneficiaries, noted that Finatrade Foundation was one of the few organisations funding agricultural education in the country.
He appealed to the foundation to explore the possibilities of financing some infrastructural projects to help create an enabling environment for teaching and learning.
He said he would monitor the performance of the students and anyone found to be slacking academically would be withdrawn.
Prof Offei urged those who had graduated to stay in the country and instead of leaving the shores of the country.
The President of the Finatrade Scholars Association (FinASA), Mr Frank Koomson, noted that the financial support provided by the foundation served as the lifeline on campus.
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