About 30 ORAL cases identified, ready for prosecution – Deputy Attorney General

The Office of the Attorney General has identified about 30 cases for prosecution under the Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) initiative, with between five and 10 already before the courts at advanced stages.

Deputy Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Dr Justice Srem-Sai, disclosed that additional cases would be filed before the commencement of the new legal year in October.

Speaking on TV3's Hot Issues on Sunday, July 27, Dr Srem-Sai said the cases were selected after prosecutors reviewed investigation dockets submitted under the ORAL initiative.

“When we analysed the report, I think we had about 30 cases that we thought were prosecutable,” he said.

He noted that several of the cases have already been filed and are progressing through the judicial process.

“We have like, I think we are between five and 10 now... advanced stages,” he stated.

According to the Deputy Attorney General, his office has additional investigation dockets ready for prosecution and intends to commence fresh cases during the legal vacation before the courts reopen for the new legal year.

“We have other dockets already. But we are going to start with them, either during the vacation, the legal vacation; we are going to start new cases,” he said.

Dr Srem-Sai reaffirmed the government's commitment to pursuing all ORAL-related cases that meet the required legal threshold.

“We will continue what we have done. We are going to continue prosecuting. As far as the ORAL is concerned, we are going to do it,” he added.

While declining to reveal the identities of individuals who may face the next round of prosecutions, he hinted that more significant cases would soon be brought before the courts.

“There will be some interesting cases coming soon,” he said.

He stressed that prosecutorial decisions are based solely on the strength of available evidence rather than the prominence of suspects or the level of public attention surrounding a case.

“When we work, we don't actually focus on which one is big or which one is that. We focus on which one is prosecutable,” he explained.

Providing updates on ongoing prosecutions, Dr Srem-Sai said the prosecution had closed its case in the SkyTrain trial and was awaiting the next stage of proceedings after the accused persons failed to file their witness statements within the court's stipulated timeframe.

“SkyTrain, we have closed our case. The two accused persons were supposed to file their witness statements... As of this morning, they have not filed anything... We are going back to court tomorrow,” he said.

He also gave an update on the criminal case involving former Director-General of the National Signals Bureau, Kwabena Adu-Boahene, indicating that the prosecution was nearing the end of its case.

According to him, the fourth prosecution witness remains in the witness box and is expected to conclude testimony within the next one or two weeks.

“Our fourth witness is in the box and we hope that by this week or next week he would have been discharged. When that happens... we have closed our case,” he said.

On the report compiled by former Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, on illegal mining, Dr Srem-Sai said investigators had submitted their findings to the Attorney General's Office, but additional investigations had been ordered before any prosecutorial decision would be taken.

“We have received investigative reports. We have made further directions to investigate this with other evidence for us to form an opinion on it,” he said.

He explained that where prosecutors identify gaps in the evidence presented, investigators are instructed to carry out further work before the Attorney General's Office decides whether criminal charges should be filed.

“The investigators bring the first report. We look at it, we find gaps. We ask them to fill the gaps and then bring them back until we are certain that we have filled all the gaps. Then we take the step to go and prosecute,” he stated.

In February this year, Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Dr Dominic Ayine, disclosed that his office was reviewing 16 ORAL investigation dockets. He indicated at the time that investigators would be directed to obtain additional evidence where necessary before any decision on prosecution was made.

Dr Ayine also clarified that the Attorney General's Office had not entered into any plea bargains or negotiations with individuals implicated in the ORAL investigations.