The Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Dr Dominic Akrutinga Ayine, has cited the embattled Ashanti Regional Chairman of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi Boadiako and 2024 presidential candidate of the Liberal Party of Ghana, Percival Kofi Akpaloo, for fraud.
The two men were earlier this year arrested in separate operations by the Economic and Organised Crimes Office (EOCO) for unknown reasons.
Briefing the press at the Government Accountability Series at the Presidency in Accra yesterday, Dr Ayine said all was set for the two suspects to be arraigned.
In the case of Mr Boasiako popularly called Chairman Wontumi, Dr Ayine said he made “fraudulent misrepresentations” to Exim Bank to obtain a GH¢24,225,735 loan facility to cultivate 100,000 acres of farmland and to employ the youth on the farm.
“At the time that the application was submitted by Wontumi Farms Limited (100 per cent owned by Mr Boasiako) together with a purported board resolution, the company was not registered. In short, the company did not exist at the time of the loan application by its sole shareholder and director.”
In order to execute the project, Wontumi Farms Limited had submitted a proforma invoice to Exim Bank for the purchase of farm equipment, including tractors, combined harvesters, corn seeder machines and wellington boots, Dr Ayine narrated.
“The invoice was submitted on December 15, 2017, as part of the loan application process. Subsequently, Exim Bank demanded proof that the equipment has been purchased. On March 18, 2018, Chairman Wontumi submitted a receipt from Kas-Sama Enterprise for the purchase of the equipment in the sum of Ghs4 Million,” he stated.
Investigations, he said, established that Chairman Wontumi had approached Kas-Sama Enterprise, an industrial equipment dealer and obtained an invoice with a promise to return to purchase the said equipment.
“He never went back to purchase the equipment. Instead he forged the invoice he obtained from Kas-Sama Enterprise by removing the word “invoice” and replacing it with “receipt”. This forged receipt was then submitted to Exim Bank by as proof that he had purchased the said equipment after the disbursement,” the A-G alleged.
“It is clear from our investigations that Chairman Wontumi and his company, Wontumi Farms Limited, made fraudulent misrepresentations to Exim Bank with a view to obtaining the loan facility and in fact did obtain the loan facility. The equipment they represented were to be purchased were never procured. The farming enterprise never materialized, and so no young persons were employed in Asare Nkwatia. But more importantly, the company and its director and CEO forged a receipt in order to deceive Exim Bank that they were in compliance with the loan conditions,” he added.
On Percival Akpaloo, the A-G said he secretly incorporated a separate company, Pomaah Universal (Gh.) Ltd, deliberately designed to closely resemble Pomaa Universal (Gh.) Ltd, differing only by the addition of an “H.”
“Between December 2022 and June 2024, Akpaloo collected eight cheques issued by COCOBOD in the name of Pomaa Universal (Gh.) Ltd, totaling GH¢3,169,432.22 and deposited them into the account of his own company at First Bank Ghana,” the A-G said.
Investigations, he said, confirmed that Akua Pomaa was unaware of both of the existence of Pomaah Universal (Gh.) Ltd and the diversion of funds until COCOBOD contacted her in June 2024 regarding outstanding balances on the contract.
“She subsequently discovered that Akpaloo had collected and misdirected the payments without her consent. Akua Pomaa also alleged that Akpaloo forged her signature on the COCOBOD contract using her former name, Mercy Owusu, to secure the agreement without her authorisation,” he noted.
First Bank Ghana’s internal investigations, Dr Ayine said, corroborated the fraud allegations, concluding that Akpaloo knowingly misrepresented ownership of the cheques and deposited them into the wrong account.
The two suspects, Dr Ayine said, would be charged after the Christmas festivities.
BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI
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