17 arrested for attempting to defraud Teacher's Fund

Police in Accra have arrested seventeen (17) persons for attempting to defraud the Teacher's Fund .

The suspects allegedly took advantage of the pilot electronic payment system being rolled out by the Controller and Accountant General's Department to fraudulently acquire loans from the Fund.

Addressing a news conference in Accra, Cantonments District Commander, Chief Superintendent of Police, Iddi Seidu, explained that the persons (teachers) involved manipulated the system by altering the pay slips; changing their basic salaries to higher amounts. These forged pay slips were then attached to loan application forms submitted to the Teacher's Fund.

Mr. Seidu explained that this method would have enabled the accused to take loans they are not entitled to.

“If these teachers had succeeded, they would have stolen about GHS 200,000 from the Teacher's Fund.”

He explained that the teachers arrested by the Cantonments Police are from the Eastern, Central, Western and Brong-Ahafo Regions, and indicated that two middlemen, as well as a member of the Fund's IT team, have also been nabbed.

According to Mr. Seidu, a docket has been prepared and the suspects have been charged with conspiracy, abetment, forgery and stealing.

“We will soon arraign them before court for prosecution”, he assured.

The Teachers Fund is a retirement supplement scheme for the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) established by a Trust Deed in May 1998. The Fund started with a monthly deduction of GH₵0.10 (₵1,000.00) as basic contributions from the salary of GNAT members through a check-off system.

The assets of the Fund have grown from just about GH₵1.50 million in May 1998 to GH₵262 million as at December 2013, represented by investments in securities such as treasury bills, listed equities, bonds, private placements, loans and facilities to members, real estate projects and investments in subsidiaries.