Return missing Ghc52billion to GCB or face our wrath — ASEPA to BoG

Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability ( ASEPA), a Civil Society Organization has ordered the Bank of Ghana (BoG) to return an alleged missing Fifty-two Billion Ghana Cedis (Ghc52 Billion) of tax revenue in the Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) transit account.

According to ASEPA, GCB was tasked by the Ministry of Finance to assist the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) in revenue collections of which GCB sent the revenue collected straight into its transit account.

At a press briefing in Accra Tuesday December 1, the Executive Director of ASEPA, Mensah Thompson indicated that, the transit account was to facilitate the smooth transfer of the tax revenue to its designated account at the Bank of Ghana.

This transit account he revealed, had no signatories because no one was expected to withdraw money from it.

He said an audit report released by a US based Journalist, Kelvin Taylor, revealed that about GHC52BILLION of tax revenue had moved from the GCB transit account to unknown destination accounts.

He said Kelvin Talor's audit report had it that the Ghana Revenue Authority ( GRA) direct transit account reported over 1,180 transactions on it, of which a total of about to 17.5 Billion was said to have been moved to unknown destination accounts.

Mr. Thompson continued that, on the VAT Indirect Transit Account, a total of about 1,794 transactions were reported to had been made and about GHC18.9billion moved into an unknown account.

The rest he pointed out were, VAT communication service transit account, which moved over GHC 107million with 262 transactions, the CEPs GCNet Revenue transit account was also not left out, also moving about GHC10.8billion into unknown accounts over 1,026 transactions, the EPI customs account also recorded a total withdrawal of about GHC1.2billion with over 32,120 transactions.

Others were CEPS Petroleum tax transit account also recorded a total of GHC3.8billion moved to an illegal destination with over 830 transactions.

In all a total of GHC52,537,175,778.13 billion was illegal moved from the transit account to an unknown destination, reiterated.

He believes BoG had the details of these transactions in their daily clearances because according to him, in the banking sector, money cannot move from a known source to an unknown destination.

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"We therefore give the Governor of the Central Bank, a 48 hour ultimatum to retrieve every single penny that was moved from the GCB transit accounts to “known” accounts.

"The Governor must retrieve every single penny of the GHC52billion within 48 hours or face the wrath of the young people of this Country.

"We are also Demanding the immediate publications of the owners of the accounts in which the tax revenues of poor Ghanaians was illegal transferred into," he intimated.

But the Audit Service has reacted to the alleged missing cash.

Read full rejoinder from the Audit Service below: