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02.02.2007 General News

BNI on the trail of a ¢722 million fraud

02.02.2007 LISTEN
By : Daily Graphic

The Bureau of National Investigations is reported to have rounded up a ring at the Controller and Accountant General's Department suspected of stealing ¢722 million with the connivance of some senior officials at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning.

The alleged fraud, according to the Daily Graphic, was said to involve six workers, some senior officers and unspecified number of collaborators at the Ministry.

Their names were being withheld for security reasons.

The Graphic learnt from a source at the Auditor- General that preliminary investigations pointed to the ¢722 million but indicated that the actual amount involved could exceed ¢1 billion.

According to the source, the fraud involved procurement and misappropriation of funds.

In one instance, the suspects allegedly paid money to certain companies for goods which were never supplied.

Recently, some workers of the CAGD were embroiled in a series of financial scandals which resulted in the loss of billions to the State.

Late last year, three officials of the CAGD, namely Messrs Jangay Benjamin Doku, then the Head of Payroll Processing Unit, Philip Seffah Kissi, then the head of the Deposits of the Final Accounts Unit and Peter Ntim of the Audit and Investigations Unit were arraigned before the Greater Accra Regional Tribunal for allegedly stealing millions of cedis belonging to the State.

Source: Daily Graphic

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