$50 Notes in 8 Bundles=$40,000, Not $65,000--Nyantakyi

After his 90-day ban by FIFA and resignation from the GFA, CAF and WAFU, embattled football administrator Kwesi Nyantakyi has fired back, accusing his adversary, Anas Aremeyaw Anas and his Tigereye PI company of lacking basic “arithmetic skills.”

Dr Martin Luther Obeng, who is spokesperson for Mr Nyantakyi has levelled a litany accusations against the ace investigator and his team, among them, hacking into his e-mail accounts, mischievously editing portions of the “Number 12” the most publicized video in which the former FA president was captured packing bundles into a black polythene and demanding an amount of $11 million as “appearance fees” for Ghana’s elite political heads before he could do business in Ghana.

In an interview with Joy News’ Emefa Apawu on Monday, Dr Obeng minced no words in accusing Anas Aremeyaw Anas of blackmailing him to part with an amount of $150,000 as a condition to stop him from releasing the content of the video.

According to him, Anas used his lawyer, who is also a lawyer for Kennedy Agyapong, to demand the amount from Mr Nyantakyi.

“The contact person said there is something going on and they needed to solve it. You know Ghanaians even when there are cases at the police station we want to settle it amicably. A demand was made on him and out of that demand he was able to raise a $100,000,” he said.

Explaining why Mr. Nyantakyi decided to raise the initial $100,000 Dr Obeng said “for a human being to be disgraced let money be disgraced.”

Despite raising the money, Dr Obeng said Anas eventually rejected the money because “two other people have gotten to know.”

Background

Anas Aremeyaw Anas
He has been responding to the content of the Number 12 video which is a culmination of an undercover investigation by the TigereyePI group.

The video details deep-seated corruption in football involving administrators, referees and other stakeholders.

The president of the GFA was himself captured in the video having a business transaction with an “investor” who unknown to him was an undercover journalist.

He was seeking sponsorship for the league as well as business transactions with the supposed investor.

In the video, Mr Nyantakyi is heard saying he would form a company in which he would take between 20-25% of the league sponsorship sum should the contract be sealed.

He is also heard demanding cash on behalf of the president, the vice, and other ministers of state.

The content of the video has received widespread condemnation from the public and is leading to a possible dissolution of the GFA.

FIFA has banned Mr Nyantakyi following a complaint filed by the Tigereye PI on the matter. He is also a subject of police investigation with charges of defrauding by false pretense.

Fight Back
But the embattled former FA president is hitting back in equal measure, accusing Tigereye PI of acts of criminality.

He issued a statement claiming the supposed bribe money of $65,000 he was seen packing in bundles into a polythene bag with glee was not bribe but a refund of travel and hotel expenses, adding the amount was not even $65,000 but $40,000.

“We can only expose Anas by his own calculation he did,” Dr Obeng said on the Joy Midday shortly after the statement was released.

“He took $50 notes and eight bundles. Simple arithmetic tells you it can never sum up to $65,000.00,” he added.

Doctored Video
On the video, the investor is heard saying the money given to Mr Nyantakyi is for shopping and other personal stuff, but Dr Obeng insists that aspect of the video was doctored and superimposed on the original recording.

He challenged Anas to release the original content of the recording.

Hacking
He also alleged that in October, Mr Nyantakyi’s e-mail account was hacked and information put out from that email to make him look bad.

“Some of the emails going around are not from him. They have been doctored,” he alleged. He provided as evidence email alerts he claimed to have received after the hacking was done.

He said the mails were sent through phones Mr Nyantakyi never used.

“Around this same October time these were the alerts I received that unauthorised access has been able to access my email,” he said.

But Lawyer for Anas has debunked the claims by Mr Nyantakyi’s spokesperson. Kissi Agyapong said Mr Nyantakyi could not purport to be acting on an e-mail transaction he was not privy to.

“The question is if someone has hacked into your email account how is it that the person who hacked your account then invite you to Dubai, then you followed up in respect of the hacked account and came to Dubai for a meeting. It just doesn’t make sense,” he said.

The Tigereye PI has since issued a statement describing the claims by Mr Nyantakyi as fabrications. Anas Aremeyaw insists the amount given is indeed 65,000 and 40,000 as is claimed by the embattled FA president.

He also challenged Mr Nyantakyi to name the person who he claimed was hired by Anas to blackmail him.

Story by Ghana|Myjoyonline.com|Nathan Gadugah