Subterfuge & Entrapment, Bribery, Resignation Etal..

He who works like the devil in a crook way pays the ultimate price, says this writer.

Ever wondered how we got here? Ever paused to reflect or ask yourself why we’re here? It appears to me that most Ghanaians are more divided on the 12^th edition of investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas’ undercover documentary dubbed #12 this year than his previous subterfuge works.

The sting operation which has exposed the rot or dark side of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) and was first premiered on Tuesday 6 June 2018 in Accra, has triggered the dissolution of the GFA and resignation of its president----Kwesi Nyantakyi. That’s not the end of the story, several heads are expected to roll downhill, while some individuals had already seen their downfall.

But why the seemingly division?
The devil is in the detail, they say. Was it the storm that caused the leaves to shake that’s making some of us go bonkers? Or the leaves that strayed into the pathway of the raging storm that’s causing our temple veins beat erratically?

Some people aren’t satisfied with Anas’ style of information gathering. They argue the methodology being employed by the renowned journalist is unethical. Other school of thought think Anas’ style is ‘ungodly’...’but has achieved positive results’. \And there’s yet a group of the populace that has questioned why the undercover journalist operates hooded or cover his face. What’s your view on this: do you think these individuals are barking too much and they’ve no reason to poke their nose into Anas’ journalistic style?

Sure, I know it’s that element of Anas’ modus operandi that’s spawning all this debate and flutter. A security analyst and a former retired army officer has a teaser for my readers today. Mr. Ebeneezer Kwakye Agyeman writes: If Anas approaches you, there are basically two or three things that must be done. ‘First welcome him and listen to him. Second certify his true identity. Ask of ID or letter of introduction or verifiable complimentary cards. ‘

Mr Agyeman says, ‘If he discusses and offers a bribe. you have two options- refuse it and report to police,’ Better still, you may collect the bribe but immediately report it to the police. In that case he adds, Anas can be arrested ‘for inducement or patronage or abetting crime by false pretense’.

Indeed describing it as problematic is euphemistic. From the issue of entrapment, to subterfuge, to ‘who watches the watchman, to law suit and to allegations that the watchdog (Anas) himself is corrupt. I must admit we have a complex case in our hand. And I think it might take more time and effort to understand its substance, truth or otherwise.

Bribery and Resignation
Did the devil make them do it?
Kwesi Nyantakyi is gone. The football administrator who doubles as a banker and a lawyer has resigned and his empire tumbled like the Jericho walls. He also rendered an unqualified apology to Ghana’s President Akufo-Addo for maligning him amid profound remorse.

Mr. Nyantakyi in his resignation letter wrote: “It stemmed out of the controversies generated by investigative report of Tiger Eye PI. In the said report I committed a series of errors of indiscretion. I gravely associated the highest office of the land –the presidency –with private discussions I had with ‘scammers’ who deceived me into thinking they were persons interested in investing in our country.”

He was relieved of his duties at CAF and FIFA. The former GFA boss was caught on tape accepting $65,000 from Tiger Eye PI undercover reporters who posed us investors.

But he insists he did no wrong and might even take on the celebrated Ghanaian journalist.

What’s his case? I guess it’s same old entrapment issue. He mentions ‘scammers’ in the resignation letter, and also alleges that he was deceived by the sting operators. Be reminded this is the method Anas has been adopting since 2009.. In fact the undercover journalist was slapped with a series of law suits from left right and centre, when he released the epic High Court Judges undercover expose’ in 2015. Surprisingly, he came out victorious.

By the way did you know Mr. Nyantakyi dug his own grave? It’s understood the ousted GFA boss had contracted Tiger Eye PI investigators the GFA little did he know that he would be investigated.

How do you establish for example that a police officer or journalist takes bribes or he’s corrupt?? In our part of the world that seems almost impossible. The major reason why Anas has been using entrapment as his weapon.

Suits and Reputation
On Friday the investigative journalist Mr. Anas filed a defamatory suit against NPP lawmaker and Assin North MP Kennedy Ohene Agyapong. Anas is seeking reliefs including general damages for libel against Mr. Agyapong as well as aggravated damages arising from some libelous comments published by the vocal legislator in the sum of GHC25million.

“This is peanut..I’ll pay pay {Anas} if I lose in court,” said Mr. Agyapong on a local radio station in Accra. on Friday 8 June Mr Agyapong boasted that what Anas was demanding was “too cheap.”

The lawmaker maintained he’s evidence to support his allegations and was prepared to face Anas in court since he was not afraid of him, adding he was happy about development because it was falling in line with his plan to "unmask" Anas since in court, he was going to challenge him to take off his mask for the case to go ahead.

Would Ken succeed in unmasking Anas?
That remains to be observed in the coming days or weeks ahead. Anas Aremeyaw Anas has built a formidable reputation. His undercover works has seen the prosecution of a high-profile cases including the dismissal of more than a dozen high court judges. Over the years with evidential proof he’s come out with flying colours and ever remained anonymous. Unless Ken has damning tapes and can prove beyond all reasonable doubt that Anas is as he claims ‘extortionist, ‘blackmailer’ and ‘corrupt’.

A Case of Entrapment
Elsewhere in the UK in 2016 undercover reporter Mazher Mahmood was found guilty of tampering with evidence in the collapsed drug trial of the singer Tulisa Contosstavlos.

The investigative journalist and self-styled “king of the sting” was charged, with his driver Alan Smith, 67, with conspiracy to pervert the course of justice over a statement Smith made to police before the former N-Dubz singer’s 2014 trial for allegedly helping supply cocaine to Mahmood. Smith was also found guilty.

Mr. Mazher one of Britain’s bets known undercover reporters renowned for ‘fake sheikh’ sting operations that had even caught out royalty tampered with evidence in a criminal trial to protect his reputation.

The journalist was on trial accused of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice over the 2014 prosecution of singer and former judge of the British version of the ‘X Factor’ TV talent show Tulisa Contostavilos.

Prosecutor Sarah Forshaw Said: “This is a case about an agreement between these tow defendants to tamper with evidence in a criminal trial. Mr. Mahmood may be the master of subterfuge and deception. But on this occasion it is he, together with his employee who are ex[posed..”

The Leland Yee case
Commenting on the above case in the United States Robert Weisberg, a Stanford law professor and founder of the law school’s Criminal Justice Center said: “To win acquittal on the grounds of entrapment, a federal defendant has to prove not only that government agents instigated the crime, but also that the defendant wasn’t predisposed to commit it.”

In practice, he explained, that means defendants must show not merely that they were given an offer too good to refuse, but that they were pressured or coerced into crimes they otherwise would not have committed.

‘It’s almost impossible,’ Prof Robert Weisberg said the federal law amounts to a statement of “faith that the police, the district attorney and the FBI won’t overdo it,” and the courts have gone along.

Yee pleaded guilty to conducting his short-lived 2014 campaign for California secretary of state, and the aftermath of his unsuccessful 2011 campaign for mayor of San Francisco, as “racketeering enterprises.” In his plea agreement, he admitted that between October 2012 and March 2014 he promised a variety of favors — votes on legislation, help to a company seeking a state contract, even illegal gun smuggling — to agents posing as campaign contributors. In each case, according to prosecutors’ transcripts of wiretapped conversations, the undercover agent offered the bribe, and Yee accepted.